ARLINGTON, VA -- While milled rice has been a heavily specified commodity in U.S. global food assistance programs, fortified rice is still a relatively new product in the toolbox of commodities used by U.S. government agencies and private voluntary organizations (PVOs) for global nutritional assistance. Fortified rice was introduced to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) master commodity list about five years ago and since that time has grown to include more than 30,000 MT utilized annually by numerous agencies to target malnutrition and hunger via food assistance.
Over the past couple of years, USA Rice has held a series of in-person workshops to review new developments with the PVOs with a view to increasing availability and tonnage in food aid programs. This year’s workshop is a webinar, scheduled on November 12, at 3 p.m. eastern time, and will be focused on usage patterns and technical developments relevant to fortified rice including shelf life and packaging, and a discussion on the impact of COVID-19.
Staff from USDA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will give updates on their food aid programs, and representatives from the World Food Program USA will talk about their experiences using fortified rice in their global relief programs. Also on the agenda is a live cooking demonstration showing the visual and taste aspects of fortified rice versus milled rice.
“This year has had its share of challenges but now more than ever, USA Rice is providing a fortified product that addresses both global hunger and malnutrition,” said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward. “We encourage everyone to tune in to hear how the U.S. rice industry continues to lead in feeding the world.”
Go
here to register for the food aid webinar.