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food aid

Hunger relief will come in the form of the ‘harvest box’

The government will spend $300 million a month to buy fresh produce, dairy and meat products that will be packaged into a box for food banks and other charities to give to hungry Americans, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Some $3 billion will be spent on purchases of surplus foods for donation in an initiative that resembles the "America's Harvest Box" idea promoted by Perdue for delivering a portion of SNAP benefits.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>

USDA to buy as much excess milk and meat as possible, says Perdue

Besides billions of dollars in cash payments to farmers, coronavirus relief will include purchases of "as much" milk and meat as possible for hunger relief, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday. President Trump says at least $16 billion will be spent on aid to agriculture. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>

As trade war lengthens, Trump orders another bailout for farmers

For the second time in 14 months, President Trump announced a multibillion-dollar government intervention to prop up the farm sector, a prominent casualty of the Sino-U.S. trade war. The first bailout, announced in April 2018, has sent around $8.3 billion in cash to growers so far; the new rescue will buy "agricultural products from our Great Farmers, in larger amounts than China ever did, and ship it to poor & starving countries in the form of humanitarian assistance," the president said on social media.

Senate panel ignores White House on foreign food aid

The Food for Peace program, created during the Cold War to alleviate hunger overseas, would see $1.7 billion in funding in the new fiscal year, a Senate Appropriations subcommittee decided on Tuesday, ignoring a White House proposal to mothball the program.

Trump names Keenum to lead food security panel

The president of Mississippi State University, Mark Keenum, is President Trump's choice to become chairman of a USAID advisory group, the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, said the White House. Keenum was the No. 3 Agriculture Department official during the George W. Bush era, overseeing U.S. farm subsidies, ag exports and foreign food aid before becoming university president in his home state in 2009.

Half a million USDA boxes of food for Puerto Rico

Officials from USDA and Puerto Rico agreed on a household distribution program that will provide about 500,000 boxes, each holding from 9-16 pounds of U.S.-grown food, "directly to families affected by Hurricane Maria." The distribution, announced over the weekend, was approved through Oct. 27.

In isolated regions of Puerto Rico, food is rationed

He was jumping on logs, crouching under fallen trees, traversing paths of thick, waist-deep mud, on a three-hour journey on foot to the town. He was carrying only $2 in his pocket to buy toilet paper. A week after Hurricane María struck Puerto Rico, Edgardo Matías is surviving in Guaonico, one of nine isolated neighborhoods in the municipality of Utuado.

Former WFP director Cousin joins Chicago Council

Ertharin Cousin, director of the UN World Food Program since 2012, has joined the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and will advise the group in “its ongoing efforts to advance global food security by supporting research, representing food security expertise on a variety of global stages, and building unique partnerships.”

White House decides against putting all food aid on U.S. ships

Congressional and food-aid groups say the White House quickly dropped plans for an executive order to put all U.S. food aid on U.S. flagged vessels, reported Reuters. The idea gained some support as an America First initiative but foes said it would drive up shipping costs and thereby reduce the volume of food delivered to needy areas.

Forecast: rising income and stable food prices will halve hunger rate in food-aid countries

Some 646 million people are food insecure, with diets of less than 2,100 calories a day, in the 76 low- and middle-income nations that are current or traditional food-aid recipients, says the USDA in forecasting a dramatic improvement in the decade ahead.

House panel rejects Trump proposal to end two food aid programs

A House Appropriations panel voted unanimously to keep two U.S. food aid programs in operation, albeit with less money, rather than eliminate them as proposed by President Trump. The subcommittee also rejected most of Trump’s plan to terminate rural water, housing, and business development programs.

Little stomach among lawmakers for Trump cuts in food aid

Even among America First lawmakers, there is little appetite for President Trump's proposals to eliminate programs providing $1.8 billion a year in food aid overseas. Members of the House Agriculture Committee defended the six-decade-old Food for Peace program, the largest of U.S. food aid program, during a hearing where questions veered toward how to improve the programs rather than building a case for termination.

USAID mulls merger of food-aid and disaster-relief operations

Leaders of USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance are exploring a merger of the agency's food-aid and disaster-assistance programs, says Devex, which follows global development issues.

Signs of funding cuts for public nutrition in Trump budget

Congress would shear $6 billion from food stamps and the Women and Infants (WIC) food program along with eliminating two overseas food-aid programs, according to data leaked to the think tank Third Way. Proposals to cut farm subsidies and federally subsidized crop insurance in fiscal 2018 also are expected in the Trump administration budget to be released on Tuesday.

U.S. must step up global campaign against hunger, says Chicago Council

For its own security as well as global welfare, the United States must strengthen its commitment to ending hunger and malnutrition, says a report issued by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs at its annual food security conference. The think tank's call for U.S. leadership contrasted with the Trump administration's proposal to focus on "the highest-priority areas" of food, disaster and refugee aid "while asking the world to pay their fair share."

Conaway: Work requirements will be salient part of food stamp reform

House Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway said his plans for "meaningful reforms" in food stamps, namely limiting access to benefits and stringent work requirements, "may very well make the 2018 farm bill harder" to pass than the 2014 law, enacted 16 months behind schedule. "I am committed 110 percent to getting both [food stamps and farm subsidies] reauthorized on time" in 2018, he said, but held open the possibility of splitting the topics into separate bills for House debate.

Trump seeks 15-percent domestic cut to pay for big military spending

President Trump would pay for his proposed $54-billion increase in military spending in fiscal 2018 by cutting domestic discretionary programs by 15 percent, said the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "The president's proposal would continue a severe, multi-year squeeze" on discretionary programs such as education, job training, clean water, and medical and scientific research, said the think tank.

Global food insecurity increases due to armed conflict

Civil conflicts and their consequences, including refugees needing food in neighboring countries, are a factor in 21 of the 39 countries that need food assistance, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in a quarterly report. Warfare in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria has disrupted food supplies for at least 40 million people, it said.

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