03/26/07 A hearing on food aid

Farm and Ranch March 26, 2007 The United States has historically been the world's most dependable food donor nation, accounting for more than half of total food donations globally in the last several years. Now the Bush Administration has made a controversial proposal on overseas food aid. That is in some cases to use cash to buy local foods instead of using products shipped from U.S. farmers. Up to 25 percent of Title II funds could be used for those local purchases. Last week Administration officials faced some skeptical Senators regarding the proposal. Here is what William Hammink, Director of the Office of Food for Peace and the U.S. Agency for International Development told the Senate Agriculture Committee. Hammink: "Let me assure you that our U.S. grown food will continue to play the primary role and will be the first choice in meeting global needs. We would plan to local and regional purchases judiciously in those situations where fast delivery of food assistance is critical to saving lives." Some Senators suggested that more pre-positioning of food near likely trouble spots would do a lot to reduce time in transit. Hammink agreed but added; Hammink: "Pre-positioning is not the answer for what we might need to save lives in emergency situations." The National Association of Wheat Growers believes that, except in times of emergency, U.S. food aid programs should be comprised of U.S. produced food. Over the years food aid donations have represented anywhere from ten to 20 percent or more of the market for Pacific Northwest soft white wheat. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.