Wheat group: PNW helping ease hunger in the Middle East

Soft white wheat grown by Idaho and Washington farmers is on its way to the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East to help alleviate one of the worst hunger emergencies on the planet, U.S. Wheat Associates announced Tuesday.

The Food for Peace donation of 28,000 metric tons of soft white wheat was loaded by longshoremen at the Port of Longview, Wash., on Tuesday on the U.S.-flag vessel “Liberty Glory.”

U.S. wheat farmers, U.S. Wheat Associates, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the North American Millers’ Association have been partners in U.S. international food assistance programs for 70 years. Since 2020, farmers have donated more than a million metric tons of wheat and millions of dollars in food aid every year. The soft white wheat donation loaded Tuesday was grown in Washington state, Oregon and Idaho.

Funding for Food for Peace and other U.S. food assistance programs are critical to addressing the substantial humanitarian feeding needs around the world, the wheat growers association said. Wheat growers and the milling industry applauded the introduction of the American Farmers Feed the World Act in June. This legislation would restore Food for Peace as a purely in-kind commodity donation program and require that at least half of all Food for Peace funds be used to purchase American commodities and ship them overseas, minimizing administrative costs and restoring accountability and transparency.

Nicole Berg, a Paterson, Wash., wheat farmer and past president of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) said the recent donation of U.S. wheat “symbolizes our commitment to combating hunger and fostering global food security.

“During a journey to Kenya and Tanzania in 2019,” she said, “I saw firsthand the effects of these life-changing programs and U.S. commodities,” she said. “In testimony before Congress I shared the story of a man I met there who emphasized his community is always so happy with the high quality of the U.S. food and wheat flour they receive. NAWG encourages lawmakers to protect funding for Food for Peace and include the American Farmers Feed the World Act as part of the Farm Bill to help feed the world with high-quality American wheat and continue paving the way for excellence in food security and assistance.”