Daniel Leader

After spending several months in South Africa last year, working for Pick-n-Pay grocery as a baking consultant, the suffering of those living with HIV/AIDS came to my full attention. While in South Africa I visited several HIV/AIDS clinics and had any opportunity to meet both patients and their caregivers. Having worked in the food industry all my life, I was shocked to see the poor quality of the food, and particularly bread, which is available to the average South African. I believe that a project that brings my experience as a baker together with those working in South Africa’s medical and NGO community will truly improve the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS.

The goal of the South African Whole Grain Bread Project is to help address some of obstacles HIV/AIDS positive individuals face in receiving both adequate nutrition and an opportunity to earn a livable wage. I hope that this business model will be successful and eventually be used throughout the country.

In my thirty years in food business, I have worked with both start-up companies and consulted for large corporations. I have also worked as an educator teaching baking and bakery management at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York City. The South African organizations already working with the Project include The Valley Trust, the oldest NGO in the country, and Sinikatemba, a community development project,at McCord hospital in Durban.

This project has been enthusiastically endorsed by Helga Holst Medical director McCord Hospital in Durban, Bruce Walker, MD (Harvard University) and Professor of Medicine at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine in Durban and Bisola Ojikutu, MP,MPH Director, South African HIV/AIDS Program, Harvard Medical