We would like to express our greatest support for including language to transfer our flagship international food aid program Food for Peace to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the FY26 agriculture spending bill. The undersigned organizations represent U.S. agriculture, maritime shipping, and labor union organizations, and are one of the broadest coalitions of American stakeholders for international food assistance programs. In particular, we are all long-time participants in and strong supporters of the P.L.480 Food for Peace program. Given the current opportunity to restructure the program, we believe that the best home for Food for Peace is with USDA.
At its core, the Food for Peace program is an America First trade policy. It supports substantial purchases from American farmers and millers that are shipped overseas in U.S.-flag vessels, creating value across the agricultural supply chain and strengthening our U.S. Merchant Marine. Moreover, sending American food to countries around the world builds consumer preferences for the products we produce best. This builds long-term commercial trade opportunities, turning humanitarian donations into some of our strongest commercial agricultural export markets. Food for Peace similarly offers critical support for the existing U.S.-flag vessel fleet and American union workers that move cargo, load, and crew the ships that transport our commodities across the globe.
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