From left: John Miller and Dr. Yi Wu (Wright Company), Jamie Warshaw (FRMCo), and Jim Guinn (USA Rice)
Oct 22, 2015
WASHINGTON, DC -- Yesterday, USA Rice hosted a fortified rice workshop here for more than 30 private voluntary organizations (PVOs), government agencies, USA Rice members, and other interested parties. Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided information on micronutrient fortification and the promising future for fortified rice in U.S. government feeding programs. Fortified rice provides eight essential micronutrients that can help growing, hungry children become healthier.
Because fortified rice can fill a much needed gap in the U.S. government’s effort to tackle “hidden hunger” and addresses nutrient deficiencies in the diets of children, USAID has said that every future request will be for fortified rice.
Farmer’s Rice Milling Company (FRMCo) won the first tender for over 4,000 MT of fortified rice and participated in yesterday’s meeting. Jamie Warshaw, CEO of FRMCo and chairman of the USA Rice Food Aid Subcommittee, said, “Rice is the most consumed commodity in the world and the potential to address the effects of hidden hunger is tremendous.”
“There was strong support from USDA, USAID, and also the participating PVOs on the future of fortified rice in helping feed the world’s hungry,” said Riceland’s Kevin McGilton, who participated in the event. “We are excited to see this new development increase the programming of rice in food aid.”
Food aid exports account for 3-5 percent of U.S. rice exports – a small but important sector that is expected to grow in the coming years.