USAID Dismantling Raises Questions About Food Aid Purchased from American Farmers

USAID, currently being shut down by Elon Musk, purchases about $2 billion a year of rice, wheat, lentils, and peas from American farmers.

By Lisa Held

February 4, 2025

February 7, 2025 Update: According to the New York Times, the Trump administration plans to reduce USAID’s staff from more than 10,000 workers to under 300. However, the largest union representing government workers has sued to stop the gutting of the agency.

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February 4, 2025 – Over the last several days, Elon Musk has taken steps to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The agency’s headquarters have been shuttered, the website disappeared, and employees were locked out of systems.

At a press conference and protest outside the headquarters on Monday, February 3, Congressional Democrats said the actions would put children around the world at risk of starvation, since USAID is a primary supplier of global humanitarian food aid. USAID purchases that food aid—about $2 billion a year of rice, wheat, lentils, and peas, according to DTN—from American farmers, prompting questions about how the agency’s shuttering might also impact rural America.

The White House put out a statement that included a list of USAID programs it said represented waste and abuse at the agency, but it did not mention humanitarian food aid. “For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous—and, in many cases, malicious—pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight,” it said.

At the press conference, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) said the agency’s shuttering was “plain illegal” and that lawmakers are working to get an injunction to stop it. (Link to this post)

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Lisa Held is Civil Eats’ senior staff reporter and contributing editor. Read more >

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USAID Dismantling Raises Questions About Food Aid Purchased from American Farmers