Loco for Coco

Coca leaf 'lunch for kids'
AFP - February 25, 2006

LA PAZ: Coca leaf has more nutritional value than milk and should replace it in school lunches, Bolivia's new Foreign Minister has suggested."Our children need calcium, and the coca leaf has more calcium than milk," David Choquehuanca said.

In past interviews, Mr Choquehuanca said he stopped reading books when he discovered his Aymara heritage, and claimed to get his knowledge from reading the wrinkles of his ancestors.

"Our children need phosphorous, and the coca leaf has more phosphorous than fish," he said. "Perhaps instead of milk in school lunches, we should be giving coca leaf to our children."

Mr Choquehuanca said his information on the nutritional value of the coca leaf came from studies by the Bolivian Health Ministry and Harvard University.

Coca leaf is chewed by millions of Bolivians as a tonic and to stave off hunger. But it is also processed into cocaine and sold abroad, chiefly in the US, in a multi-billion-dollar illegal trade.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, also of indigenous extraction, who was elected in December with strong support from coca farmers, is under US pressure to repress the industry.
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And I thought my Mum was being inhumane, refusing to put Roll-Ups in my lunch box... mmmm, real fruit - flat out... excuse me, i have to ummm... go now...