New York, NY; April 10, 2013—

Background

As part of his proposed 2014 budget released today, President Obama included significant and historic reforms to the U.S. government’s global food aid program. The statement below is from Ruth Messinger, the president of AJWS, a human rights and international development organization, which has worked extensively with local communities in developing countries to solve the problem of world hunger. Please feel free to use all or part of the statement below in your stories.

“We are deeply gratified that President Obama has proposed truly historic and transformative reforms in how the United States provides food aid to countries in the developing world, where millions suffer needlessly from hunger or face the future risk of famine and malnutrition.”

“President Obama’s proposed reforms would bolster the ability to use U.S. aid to buy food from developing country farmers in or near their region instead of relying on food shipped from the U.S. This significant change means that American aid dollars will have a double impact. American dollars will feed people today and will also support the farmers and distributors in and around these developing nations. This approach is critical to helping these countries develop their own sources of food and become less dependent on our aid.”

“We urge members of the U.S. Congress to support the President’s economically and morally sound proposal for using U.S. food aid dollars to help countries in the developing world create vibrant, self-sufficient agricultural economies to feed themselves and their neighbors.”