Target: Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State
Goal: Prevent destruction of food intended for hungry families.
Food that could feed over a million starving children is set to be incinerated by the Trump administration. After leaders prioritized dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), roughly 500 tons of food earmarked for the agency’s services have set in a warehouse. As the expiration date for this food nears, the administration has reportedly given the order not to send the food to hungry kids, but rather to burn it.
The supplies include nutrient-rich biscuits that greatly benefit very young children in regions thrown into upheaval by war or natural disasters. Newly installed officials in positions of power have apparently repeatedly ignored urgent requests from former USAID employees to ship the biscuits. As a consequence of this inaction and of the directive to incinerate the food instead, over $800,000 worth of food will be wasted…and hundreds of thousands of children will go without. And taxpayers will foot the $130,000 bill tallied for destroying the food. Worse yet, more food could soon meet the same fate.
Sign the petition below to demand leaders reverse this unconscionable and potentially life-endangering example of government inefficiency.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Secretary Rubio,
You gave sworn testimony that no food purchased by the U.S. government to feed the hungry would go to waste. How do you explain the 500 metric tons of emergency biscuits that are set to be destroyed within weeks? This food alone could feed one million-plus malnourished children.
What about the additional 100,000 tons of American-grown food currently rotting in warehouses? America’s farmers have helped combat world hunger, and now those opportunities are being stripped away at the cost of these farmers’ livelihoods and, more consequentially, at the cost of countless lives around the globe. It is inexcusable that a government that wants to pride itself on efficiency would literally throw food it purchased into a burning trash can.
You can and must honor your oath to ensure this life-saving food reaches the kids and the communities who desperately need it.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Onur Yumlu
