Why U.S. Food Aid Benefits Big Business and Not Starving People
By Megan Tady, In These Times
How current policies favor giant shipping companies and agribusinesses over the starving populations they are supposed to serve.
Critics charge that current U.S. food aid policies are inefficient and possibly harmful.
Last month, in a move that shocked observers, CARE, one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, rejected $45 million in U.S. food aid, shining a spotlight on a practice the group says may hurt starving populations more than help them.
Complaining that U.S. food aid policy is inefficient, unsustainable and perhaps even detrimental to combating food insecurity, CARE belives "enough is enough," according to Bob Bell, director for CARE's Food Resource Coordination Team. The decision comes at a time when other humanitarian and food advocacy organizations are calling on members of Congress to rewrite food aid policy that puts starving populations first when they authorize this month's 2007 Farm Bill. LINK