Food Fight

Gayle, Helene D., Werker, Eric, Foreign Policy

Eric Werker ("Power to the People," November/December 2008) accuses aid agencies of adopting a paternalistic approach that includes "dumping" imported food in poor countries. He is firing at the wrong target. In fact, a number of humanitarian organizations object to this very practice. CARE, for example, decided to abandon certain food-aid strategies because they were doing more harm than good. What Werker should demand is a change in government policy. That's what we're working for.

By law, most U.S. food aid to poor countries must be in the form of U.S.-grown food that's shipped overseas on U.S.-flagged carriers and then directly distributed or sold to generate funds for …

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Publication information: Article title: Food Fight. Contributors: Gayle, Helene D. - Author, Werker, Eric - Author. Magazine title: Foreign Policy. Issue: 170 Publication date: January-February 2009. Page number: 8. © 1999 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale Group.

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