Exclusive: US aid cuts leave food for millions mouldering in storage

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

May 16, 2025 12:01 PM EDT Updated 3 hours ago


May 16 (Reuters) - Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are mouldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming unusable, according to five people familiar with the situation.

The food stocks have been stuck inside four U.S. government warehouses since the Trump administration's decision in January to cut global aid programmes, according to three people who previously worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development and two sources from other aid organisations. Some stocks that are due to expire as early as July are likely to be destroyed, either by incineration, using them as animal feed or disposing of them in other ways, two of the sources said.

The warehouses, which are run by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), contain between 60,000 to 66,000 metric tonnes of food, sourced from American farmers and manufacturers, the five people said. An undated inventory list for the warehouses - which are located in Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai and Houston - stated that they contained more than 66,000 tonnes of commodities, including high-energy biscuits, vegetable oil and fortified grains.

Those supplies are valued at over $98 million, according to the document reviewed by Reuters, which was shared by an aid official and verified by a U.S. government source as up to date. That food could feed over a million people for three months, or the entire population of Gaza for a month and a half, according to a Reuters analysis using figures from the World Food Programme, the world's largest humanitarian agency.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-aid-cuts-leave-food-millions-mouldering-storage-2025-05-16/

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Waste. Fraud. Abuse.

[JBTaurus83]

1. There is no purpose

to this other than cruelty. The food was already purchased, you may as well deliver it even if you wanted to cut the program going forward. A complete waste of resources.

[Aristus]

2. Part of their MO; the cruelty is the point.

Like school officials who yank a child's lunch tray out of their hands and throw the food in the garbage because the student has "lunch debt" (Yep; in late-stage capitalism, that's a thing...)

They would rather throw food away than feed hungry people. This country has really gone around the bend...

[Iamscrewed]

3. GOP brand

Waste fraud cruelty and abuse. Kinda like the nazis or "old" Russia.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Miller rubs his hands in glee and mutters "brown people". . . . .nt

[slightlv]

5. I grew up having a father who, as a pre-teen, lived through the Great Depression.

It not only colored the way he looked at food and "needs"... but also colored the world in the same way for us kids now. To me, one of the most immoral things one can do is withhold food and water from someone. The commodities in the article are already bought and paid for, and just need to be distributed. But this administration is deliberately withholding food and other necessities from people here and around the world who desperately need it. My father would have had a heart attack at the mere thought of this. I SMDH in disgust. Besides needy kids and their parents, most of us elders are getting killed by the increases at the grocery store and the pharmacy. I cut out two separate weeks of grocery shopping and coasted on doing 2 store runs for the month. I'm seeing the increase in my bank account thanks to not going to the store those two extra weeks, but I'll admit it was really hard coming up with stuff for supper with just what we had left in the pantry. I don't consider us food-insecure but we're very careful with food and money. To have some of these commodities released to those who need it would be a blessing -- which is why trump will never do it unless forced to do so. And it doesn't seem like there's anyone with any power who's brave enough to force him into anything. And I still think what he's doing is illegal. Congress appropriated and paid for these foods with instructions on where and how the distribution. The Executive Office is tasked with carrying out the laws and procedures Congress has set down. So even if there was nothing else he was doing that was wrong or illegal, he should be up on charges for negating the role of the Congressional Office, and overstepping his bonds by making sure the food that has been bought and paid for is left to spoil, no good to anyone after that. I'm so tired of seeing this man give the middle finger to the rule of law like he is some grand God Emperor of the universe, deciding on his own who lives and dies in his world. I wish we could do the same for him, his minions, and his cult.

[Skittles]

6. SOUNDS LIKE WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE TO ME

YES INDEED

[travelingthrulife]

7. DOGE will get right on that waste.

[riversedge]

8. As long as Trump has his Steaks for dinner--and a big piece of Chocolate cake, he does NOT care who else goes hungry!!

[BumRushDaShow]

9. And don't forget