Lawmakers have proposed a bill that would move the Food For Peace program, currently overseen by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), under the USDA umbrella.
Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan.; Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark.; Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.;House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-Penn.; Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., are among the lawmakers who introduced the legislation.
President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk have called for a dismantling of USAID.
“President Trump made a promise to the country to cut wasteful spending, reduce overbearing federal bureaucracy and ensure every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely and responsibly,” Mann said in a press release. “I applaud President Trump for upholding that promise and reviewing our federal spending line by line to root out waste, fraud and abuse while ensuring programs like Food for Peace are in line with his mission and vision.”
By moving Food for Peace to USDA, the program can continue to equip American farmers to serve hungry people while providing more transparency and efficiency as to how taxpayers are stewarded, Mann said.
USDA already runs two international food assistance programs that deal with in-kind food donations, Food for Progress and the McGovern-Dole Food for education program, making USDA “a natural home for Food for Peace,” Crawford added.
National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates, the overseas marketing arm for the wheat industry, supported the move in a joint press release.
“U.S. wheat has long been proud of the role our farmers play in feeding hungry populations around the world,” U.S. Wheat president Vince Peterson stated in the release. “Realigning administration of Food for Peace, our flagship global hunger program, to USDA makes perfect sense and ensures that the agency most closely connected with food is equipped to deliver wholesome food from American farmers to those who most need it.”
“Each year, the Food for Peace program buys more than 1 million metric tons of food, including wheat, to feed millions of starving people in the poorest countries around the world,” NAWG CEO Chandler Goule stated. “Under USDA, Food for Peace, this 71-year-old program will feed more people more efficiently and effectively without losing track of starting American foreign policy at home with American farmers.”
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