As former Secretary of State Colin Powell stated on behalf of the US Food Aid program, “America’s generosity goes beyond all political boundaries…for hunger knows no nationality.” As the United States donates about 50% of the world’s food aid each year, or about $2 billion of its taxpayer’s money annually, it is apparent that the American people deeply care about distributing food to some of the one billion hungry people in the world—a number estimated by the UN in 2009.
At first glance, the humanitarian inside most Americans will be satisfied when they see the numbers associated with the US Food-Aid program— a 50% share of the world’s food donations seems like a noble effort from United States. However, if we dig a little deeper and unpack the US Food-Aid program, it is apparent that its foundation is extremely flawed and riddled with contradictions that don’t allow it to effectively carry out its mission.
The US Food-Aid’s mission is to “provide food aid to save lives and promote self-reliance in some of the poorest, most isolated areas of the world.” In reality, the US Food-Aid program serves another purpose: to bolster America’s own economy.
The US government purchases 99% of its food-aid donations from US farmers. It is then mandated that 75% of that food has to be shipped on US shipping vessels. On top of these staggering numbers, the US government is buying its food aid at incredibly inflated prices. As scholar Christie Kneteman laments in her article “Tied Food Aid: Export Subsidy in the Guise of Charity,” the US government pays up to “70% more for corn” when compared to prices on the open market. Kneteman also notes that the cost of shipping on US vessels for food aid is “estimated to be inflated 76% over that of foreign competitors.” The US food and shipping industries are making a generous profit from the money that the American taxpayers have allocated to feed hungry people.
Furthermore, tying food aid to US business interests undermines the stated goal of the program “to promote self reliance.” It does this by undercutting local markets and subsequently making the recipient countries dependent on foreign imports.
When the US government dumps a large shipment of donated food in a country it severely undercuts the local farmers. With free, donated grain there is no market for which local farmers can sell their produce. Subsequently, the farmer is left with few options: to grow a crop that somebody will purchase, change occupations, or migrate to find work. With a shrinking market for domestic consumption, farmers are increasingly squeezed economically into growing food crops for export—crops that will be purchased by a large corporation and be sent into the global food market. How can a country become self-reliant if its farmers are no longer producing food for domestic consumption?
The United States government needs to untie food aid by reducing the amount of grain it purchases from US farmers. It could then purchase food from markets of the region it is donating to. According to California Representative Ed Royce, the US recently experimented with a food aid program that incorporated “local and regional purchase efforts.” The results of the pilot program were astonishing. It resulted in price reductions of 25-50% and a delivery time 11-14 weeks quicker than traditional food aid. Decreasing delivery time by 11-14 would drastically help starving people when every minute matters. By purchasing local food to donate, the US can accomplish the stated goals of its Food-Aid program to “save lives” and “promote self reliance.”
The main hindrances retarding any change in the Food-Aid program are the lobbyists for the US food and transportation industries, backed by millions of dollars. They do not want the laws to change, as they are making a handsome profit off the program. At first, one might think that they hold a decent argument—that the US government should support its own economy. Their argument falls apart when it becomes apparent that the distribution of this wealth is severely limited, as only a few companies can compete to bid for the US Food-Aid contracts. As Kneteman noted, in 2001 “84% of food aid shipments were carried by only four freight companies.” Massive corporations should not be allowed to profit from such artificially high prices, especially when that money was originally allocated to feed starving people.
The humanitarian inside American cannot be satisfied with the current state of the program. With US business interests intermingled with Food-Aid’s humanitarian efforts, the program cannot effectively achieve its goals of saving lives and promoting self-reliant economies. It is time for the Americans to demand that the US Food-Aid program separate US business interests from the taxpayer’s humanitarian interests.
Bibliography
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Giménez, Eric Holt and Shattuck, Annie. “Food Crises, Food Regimes, and Food Movements: Rumblings of reform or Tides of Transformation?” The Journal of Peasant Studies. Vol. 38, Issue 1, 2011. Taylor & Francis Online. 13 Jan 2011. Web Accessed October 29, 2014. URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2010.538578#.VFKTqPTF83Q
Mowforth, Martin. “The Violence of Development: Resource Depletion, Environmental Crises and Human Rights Abuses in Central America.” Pluto Press. London, England. (15-32).
Royce, Ed and Engel, Eliot. “International Food Aid Needs Reform.” The Hill. July 18, 2013. Web Accessed October 27, 2014. URL: http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/306363-international-food-aid-needs-reform
Steves, Rick. “Guest: Protect US food Aid from the Shipping Industry.” The Seattle Times. June 3, 2014. Web Accessed Oct. 28, 2014. URL: http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2023759565_rickstevesopedfoodaid29xml.html
The Lugar Center for Strategic and International Studies Washington, DC. “Remarks by Administrator Rajiv Shah At the Center For Strategic and International Studies: The Future of Food Assistance.” USAID: From the American People. Apr. 10, 2013. Web Accessed: Oct. 26, 2014. URL: http://www.usaid.gov/news-information/speeches/remarks-administrator-rajiv-shah-center-strategic-and-international
US Food Aid and Security. Web Access Oct 28, 2014. URL www.foodaid.org/about