Thousands of US food aid boxes labeled for destruction

Hundreds of cases of U.S.-branded food aid — around 15,000 pounds — have been marked with “DESTROY” stickers after languishing for months in a Georgia warehouse and expiring before they could be shipped to famine-stricken regions such as Sudan.

The destroyed supplies were part of a $50 million stockpile of peanut paste at Mana Nutrition’s warehouse near Savannah. Intended for malnourished children, the food aid had been fully paid for by the U.S. government but was never picked up due to administrative delays and foreign aid cuts, Caliber.Az reports via Washington Post. 

“This is a giant glut,” said David Todd Harmon, Mana’s chief operating officer. “All contracted. All bought and paid for. It’s just not been picked up.”

A May memo from the State Department revealed that over 60,000 metric tons of food commodities were stuck in warehouses across the U.S. and abroad, following the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The agency’s programming was slashed by more than 80 per cent and officially shut down on July 1.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire criticized the situation as “indefensible.”

“These commodities were purchased by U.S. taxpayers to save lives — not to sit in warehouses or be incinerated,” she said.

On July 22, the State Department issued a $52 million grant to the U.N. World Food Program to begin moving 12,000 metric tons of aid from Djibouti and Houston to several African countries and Haiti. Gaza was not among the destinations, despite widespread hunger due to Israel’s siege.

The department claimed the supplies “were not delayed in delivery to any destination because they were not yet allocated to any specific programs.” Still, concerns about spoilage have prompted an inspector general review.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously told lawmakers that no aid would go to waste. But experts warn many shipments may arrive too late. “Even if Secretary Rubio says nobody has died doesn’t mean it’s true,” said Kathrin Lauer, a former USAID official.

In Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, hunger continues to worsen. Community leader Shamsul Alam said, “If there are any more cuts in the future, we are going to die here.”

Despite some food finally being approved for shipment, large quantities remain untouched. Mana Nutrition still holds 400,000 cases of therapeutic peanut paste. “We have been paid,” said CEO Mark Moore, “but kids aren’t getting fed.”

Similarly, Edesia Nutrition in Rhode Island has 185,000 boxes of supplements, worth $75 million, that have not been shipped.

“The international community should just go ahead and kill us if they can’t provide enough food,” Alam added, expressing growing desperation.

Former aid officials point to poor coordination and understaffing after USAID's closure. In one case, 1,000 metric tons of high-energy biscuits stored in Dubai neared expiration while awaiting approval.

“There was a tremendous amount of effort from career staff to get [Lewin’s] attention,” said Sarah Charles, former head of USAID’s humanitarian bureau. “If it was incompetence, there was really, really no excuse.”

The Trump administration has proposed slashing humanitarian aid from $10 billion to $4 billion in the next fiscal year, while also seeking to eliminate the $1.6 billion Food for Peace program. Congress has pushed back against the cuts.

“There is now huge uncertainty about the actual future of U.S. food aid,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International.

The State Department said it “expects to allocate additional resources to address [humanitarian] needs in line with U.S. interests.”

By Sabina Mammadli