More than 60,000 metric tons of U.S. food aid, stockpiled around the world, are at risk of spoiling due to President Donald Trump’s reluctance to allocate it to vulnerable populations in poverty-stricken countries.
Since the current federal administration decided to cut global aid programs in January, food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month have remained in storage at imminent risk of spoilage.
An investigation carried out by Reuters, based on the testimony of several former employees of the USAID and others who work for aid organisations, details how the billionaire leading the United States shows a serious lack of empathy towards vulnerable populations worldwide, as reflected in his management of food aid.
He prefers that entire piles of boxes and sacks of food rot instead of distributing them, preventing hundreds of thousands of people, including thousands of children, from suffering hunger due to not having access to food.
Sources cited on condition of anonymity detail that, within a couple of months, a large batch of food products stored at facilities managed by USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) will reach their expiration date.
At that point, they will have to be incinerated or, at best, used as animal feed.
The merchandise, valued at more than $98 million, is reportedly located in Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Houston, Texas.
However, not a single gram of the food that could feed more than a million people for three months can be touched unless Trump orders otherwise.
Apparently, part of the food included high-energy biscuits, and its final destination was the Gaza Strip and Sudan.
However, this food is about to expire in July, with no one knowing its future, largely due to the wave of layoffs facing USAID.