Untangling Inefficiencies in U.S. Food Aid Policy

Last night I was told that my stances on U.S. foreign policy are un-”American.”  While I personally believe that citizenship is an arbitrarily created concept and, therefore, does not automatically warrant greater attention than human solidarity, there is an economic logic to my critique that surpasses boundaries of nationality.

Take the issue of U.S. food aid.  In the most recent edition of Foreign Policy Magazine, Helene Gayle, President and CEO of CARE USA, argues that U.S. food aid policy does “more harm than good.”  What she means is this:  under current U.S. food aid policy, the majority of food given to developing countries in crisis must be purchased from U.S. farmers and then shipped overseas on U.S. carriers in order to be distributed or sold at its final destination.  The problem: in an effort to ensure benefit for American workers and corporations into U.S. food aid policy, the U.S. Agency for International Development spends more on shipping and administration (65 cents on every dollar) than it does on providing actual food to the starving populations we aim to help.

Gayle points out that “the generosity of the U.S. government and its citizens would be far better served if more food aid came in the form of cash.”  Such a system would not only give humanitarian aid agencies more flexibility to respond more efficiently and appropriately, but would free up funds to be spend locally, stimulating production with developing countries towards stronger, more self-sufficient economies.

Is building stronger, more self-sufficient economies and communities abroad not the end goal of U.S. foreign assistance?  Some might say, “Well sure, but now you’ve cut out the American worker altogether.”  While this is true, the sacrifice is short-term.  We will spend less money in the long-term on foreign aid if we invest now in supporting developing countries as they build their own infrastructure and industries.  Countries with these qualities make better trade partners, a relationship which is and should be designed to create American jobs.

Besides, isn’t standing by inefficient programs simply because they create jobs something that the U.S. criticizes socialist governments for?

Youths Were Force at UN, Now Must Battle at Home

There are so many concerns that demand our attention these days: our economy, our food supply, our source of energy.  When times are difficult, the concerns over the environment are placed on the back burner.  On December 1st nearly 4,000 participants comprising of delegates, staffs, activists, and lobbyists, met in Pozan, Poland  for the UN Framework on Climate Change.  Although the conference was given poor media coverage in the States, the convention attracted all of those who held stake in the UN’s treaty including businesses and civilians.  In November I spoke with Wesleyan senior Eli Allen as he prepared with the youth organization SustainUS for their journey to Pozan.  ( College Youths Embody New America and Head to the UN)  Now that the conference has ended, Eli has returned to the States and was gracious enough to speak with me, once again.

As a small youth organization, SustainUS joined 400 youths from across the world to form the International Youth Delegation (IYD).   In a conference as large as this, the IYD was capable of displaying a unified concern from the world’s youth on the global stage.  The members from SustainUs also served as liasons from the United States.  The Bush administration provided a passive voice at the conference, since the new administration will be the one to determine the US ’s role in the global fight for climate change.  The group conversed with delegates and staff members in an attempt to ensure the new and changed America’s committment to the global participation.  With the understanding that international interests should also be national interests, Eli and his fellow participants are seeking to broaden international grassroots activism while broadening US support for a climate bill.  In order to ensure international success on climate change, “Domestic support is manadtory,” says Eli.

The world will convene once more this fall in Copenhagen, where the climate treaty will be signed.  I asked Eli what he and SustainUS will be doing in preparation for the autumn conference, to which he replied, “We came to a realization.  Small island developing states are the most progressive members of the UN, however they lack the resources to create change.  The global youth have the resources, but they lack the formal influences.  We have to combine the two to save all of us.” In times such as these, when everything seems to be crumble, it is refreshing to see those who are fighting to keep it all together.  I wish them success, not  just for their sake, but for the rest of humanity.