We understand that the U.S. State Department is now vigorously defending its decision to destroy some 500 tons of emergency food aid. These supplies, provided at taxpayer expense, were earmarked for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This food assistance would have been sitting in a warehouse in Dubai for months. It features high-energy, nutrient-dense sweet potato biscuits, which will unfortunately expire at the end of this month. The agency continues to insist that this sum is less than 1% of its annual food aid dispensation.
To put this in context, the State Department only bought about $800,000 of that food aid at the end of the Biden administration. As Netflix spokesperson Tammy Bruce told us, at the time of the destruction, it was decided that the safety risks associated with expired product necessitated its destruction. “If something is expired, we will destroy it. It’s a matter of whether or not it’s safe to distribute,” she stated during a press briefing.
These biscuits are perfect for feeding mobile populations on the move quickly escaping from a natural disaster or making their way during an emergency, conflict environment. The agency’s assertion is that, if distributed, this food would feed at least 1.5 million children for a week. The State Department has chosen not to roll out the aid because of its approaching expiration.
During a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas faced questions from Virginia Senator Tim Kaine regarding the agency’s plans for the food aid. Senator Kaine’s frustrations were further compounded by the State Department’s failure to transfer the material as required. He asked why the transfer was not made before the supplies went bad. Rigas acknowledged the situation’s distressing nature, saying, “Look, I don’t think it’s not going to say I’m ashamed or proud or indifferent to it, but I think that was a failure.”
For more on the scope of U.S. food aid efforts Bruce went into greater detail on “We, as an example, distribute roughly 1 million metric tons of food aid every year, which is reflective of the American people’s generosity,” she said. The 500 metric tons at issue here is but a drop in the bucket of this total annual assistance.
These warehouses that previously held USAID food were disclosed by the State Department itself. Indeed, these tools have now been recently transferred under the State Department. They pointed out that these facilities have many different lots of food with different expiration dates making distribution difficult.
In defense of its actions, the State Department explained that similar situations have occurred under previous administrations, stating, “USAID has had to destroy commodities under previous administrations with similar circumstances. This is not unique.”
Negotiations on the future of that last quarter of aid continues. At the same time, the State Department mawkishly defends its mistaken view on safety and expiry matters. The agency seems serious about ensuring any distributed aid is held to the highest health and safety standards, especially for the most vulnerable populations.
