Op-Ed Submission - Food Aid Reform

Submitted to the Houston Chronicle Dec. 22, 2013

U.S. food aid isn’t usually a topic that is on the average college student’s mind.

Between classes, labs, clubs and social activities, there doesn’t seem to be any reason on the surface to think about the topic, and yet, I think about food aid every day. From the food waste I see in my college cafeteria here in Houston, to the conversations I have with my professors about the harmful effects foreign imports have on local farmers, I am reminded that the system is inefficient and outdated.

U.S. food aid must be reformed.

Why is the system outdated? Allow me to tell you a short history lesson. In the 1950s, the U.S. had a surplus of grain, so President Eisenhower signed PL 480—or food aid—into law, with the goal to help alleviate world hunger by exporting our grain surpluses overseas. Our food aid system has evolved since then, and today, the majority of food aid comes from U.S.-grown commodities that are shipped overseas to areas in need of food assistance.

The overhead costs of getting these commodities to the people who need them can eat up as much as 53 cents for every dollar of grains shipped. That means that less than half of the money spent on food aid is actually used for food.

The good news is that we can change this system to make it work harder for the U.S. taxpayer, which is on the minds of college students as we prepare for graduation and our entry into the working world upon graduation. Reforming food aid would also allow the U.S. to reach up to 4 million more hungry people each year, while ensuring our farmers and shippers here in Texas and across the country continue to thrive. Food aid actually accounts for a minimal proportion of U.S. agricultural exports and flag preference shipping, so reforms to the program would have a very limited impact on each industry.

By purchasing food closer to where it is needed, we can deliver food aid to the hungry and poor - up to two months faster, and for up to 30 percent less money. That’s life or death for a starving family. Modernizing our food aid system can allow the poor to be more self sufficient. The poverty-fighting organization CARE, which works to empower the poor in more than 80 countries, has found strengthening capacity for farmers to grow food and market their food locally can be a key part of reducing poverty. After all, the point of U.S. foreign assistance today is to help the poor help themselves. So why would we undercut that progress by flooding their markets with our cheap grains?

That’s not to say that sometimes food aid makes sense, especially in emergency situation where there may not be food nearby. What we need is a more flexible food aid system that can allow the U.S. to respond in a way that makes the most sense.

I encourage you – students and adults alike – to learn more about food aid reform because this issue matters. And I urge Congress to stand up for the U.S. taxpayer and the millions of hungry people around the world. Reform U.S. food aid.

(Letter submitted in role of CARE Action Network Advocate)