Destine Johnson
1124 Words
November 19, 2015
Draft 1
Government Assistance
Approximately 842 million people suffer from chronic hunger world-wide (“Quick Facts”). Can we
fix this? Food aid from the United States is being sent to countries in need. About seventy-five percent of
the food being provided for this aid is processed in the United States and shipped on United States
vessels (“Quick Facts”). Is this hurting the local farmers of the countries being helped? The food takes
about six months to reach the people in need of it (“Quick Facts”). Is this too long? To make food aid
more efficient and to ensure precise delivery, we need to buy the food locally and work with President
Obama’s food aid reform plan.
Food Aid is a big help to the countries in need. The United States' current food aid system was
created in 1954 (“What is ‘monetization of food aid’?”). During the time the food aid system was created,
the United States had an agricultural surplus. Shipping the surplus abroad was agreed to be the best
choice. It could be used to help those who are in need of food. Not all of the food sent to the countries in
need is used to feed the hungry. Some of the countries choose to sell the food and use the money for
funding development projects, or monetization.
How food aid works is pretty simple. Food is grown on United States soil. The food is processed
then shipped on United States vessels (“Quick Facts”). After about six months, the food finally reaches
the countries in need. The aid can come in two ways: prevention of global hunger or monetization. When
the food aid is used in the prevention of global hunger, the food is given out to those who are starving and
in need of the food. The other option is monetization. Monetization of U.S. food aid is the sale of food
commodities purchased in and shipped from the United States and sold for local currency in a recipient
country by "cooperating sponsors," which are typically U.S. based non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) or recipient governments (“World Hunger Notes”). So, in simple words, the countries who receive
this aid sell the food and use the money to help better their country.
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Destine Johnson
1124 Words
November 19, 2015
Draft 1
If the food aid is not in the form of monetization, then it goes to help fight against global hunger.
Global hunger problems have been rising ever since food prices have been going up. Every year, 1.5
million people die from hunger, including 16,000 children. That is one child every five seconds (“Global
Hunger”). We need to do the best we can to stop this. Bringing more food aid, in the form of food, not
monetization, is one way we can help. We can use our current food aid system and use President
Obama's new plan to make it as efficient as possible. President Obama’s plan is to give more money to
the food aid budget, to have more of the food used be bought regionally. We need to figure out a way to
get the food to the people in need faster. This may be using local grown food from the countries in need,
which is one of President Obama’s plans.
We could use monetization or send them supplies or money or even workers to help, if that is
what they need. The food would be grown locally, or nearby the countries in need of the food, so the food
would not take long to get to those in need of it. Also, because the food is grown locally, the farmers
would benefit. Having the farmers grow the food, would help keep them out of poverty and would benefit
their economy.
The United States is working hard to help some of the countries in need. This help builds
relationships between the U.S and these countries. This aid and the relationships built can be used to
build peace. Other countries may follow our example and help out other countries in need. If we can get
many countries helping each other, we can have world peace and avoid war. Together, the countries can
work together to defeat global hunger.
President Obama's 2014 budget will bring changes to the food aid system. The changes will allow
life-saving assistance to about four million more people (“Food Assistance”). This budget will provide
USAID (the United States Agency for International Development) with 1.8 billion dollars for food
assistance. This money will help create a more efficient and effective system to help the people in need.
The time that is taken now to deliver food is too long. Because more of the food for food aid will be bought
locally or regionally, the food will be able to be delivered eleven to fourteen weeks faster than usual.
Savings will be from twenty-five to fifty percent (“Food Assistance”).
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Destine Johnson
1124 Words
November 19, 2015
Draft 1
President Obama's food aid reform proposals are a great start to help taking action with this
problem. The increase in money will help greatly. The money needs to be used to help get the food
delivered more efficiently. A good way to do that is by bringing in the local farmers and working with them.
Having the farmers help would better their economy and keep them out of poverty. If the food is grown
locally, it would ensure precise quantity and delivery of the crops. I would want my representatives to
support these proposals.
I believe in helping and service. I want to help everyone that I can. The United States and our
government officials have made good decisions by sending help to the other countries in need. This is a
great way to build peace and create good relationships. We should do all we can to keep providing this
service to those in need of it. One day, if the United States needs help like this, or any other kind of help,
the countries will return the favor. We just need to perfect this food aid system now. Food aid would be
more efficient if the local farmers would work together to ensure precise quantity and delivery of the
crops. Once all of these ideas are taken into account, this aid will be great. Every day, 20,864 people die
from hunger related causes (“Global Hunger”). Together, we can help stop this.
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Destine Johnson
1124 Words
November 19, 2015
Draft 1
Works Cited “Food Assistance.” U.S. Agency for International Development. N.P., n.d. Web. 7.
Nov.
2013.
"Global Hunger." Bread. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
"Quick Facts." U.S. Agency for International Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
"What is ‘monetization of food aid’?” Five questions on food aid "monetization" in the
USA answered." Care International UK. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Simmons, Emmy. “World Hunger Notes -- Monetization of Food Aid: Reconsidering U.S.
Policy and Practice.” Reviewed by Steven Hansch. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
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