WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. has a long history of administering the largest, most reliable, and effective food assistance programs in the world and through the flagship Food for Peace program, American agriculture has fed more than four billion people in more than 150 countries. The program has also built markets for American farm exports since its inception in 1954.
However, in January, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the previous home of Food for Peace, was integrated into the U.S. Department of State as part of the Executive Order Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid. Since then, there has been a dramatic decline in purchases of rice and other commodities for international food aid representing a stark departure from historical patterns.
In response, legislation was introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives by Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and John Hoeven (R-ND), as well as Representatives Rick Crawford (R-AR), Tracey Mann (R-KS) and others that would move Food for Peace completely to the USDA, which has a proven track record of administering the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program and Food for Progress.
USA Rice endorsed this legislation, (S. 525 and H.R. 1207), and this week, a group of farmers and millers descended on Congress to advocate for it. Fly-in participants also requested that the administration take immediate steps to utilize previously appropriated funding and resume the purchase of grain-based milled products through Food for Peace.
“In recent years, up to 5 percent of U.S. rice exports are in the form of food aid, providing a safe and nutritious food source for vulnerable or at-risk populations,” explained Logan Ward, senior director of international sales for Riceland Foods and Chair of the USA Rice Food Aid Subcommittee. “At a time when hunger is on the rise and commodity markets are in dire need, it makes economic sense for Food for Peace, and international food aid programs as a whole, to make purchases to support America’s rice farmers.”
“USA Rice supports moving Food for Peace to the USDA, which has a strong track record of procuring U.S. rice as part of the international food assistance programs it already administers,” said USA Rice Vice President of Government Affairs Jake Westlin.
Leaders from the American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, National Sorghum Producers, USA Rice, and North American Millers’ Association participated in the fly-in.