Reuters: Trumpʼs decision to cut foreign aid is causing food for millions to spoil in US warehouses

Due to the decision of the administration of the US President Donald Trump to cut foreign aid, food rations that could last a month for 3.5 million people are spoiling in American warehouses.

Reuters reports this, citing sources.

According to three former employees of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and two former employees of other humanitarian organizations, food supplies have become stuck in four warehouses in the United States after global aid programs were cut in January 2025.

Some of the stocks expire in July. They will most likely be burned or used as animal feed. Or disposed of in some other way.

Warehouses managed by USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) hold 60 000 to 65 000 tons of food supplied by American farmers and producers, valued at more than $98 million.

A Reuters analysis using data from the World Food Programme suggests that this would be enough food for 3.5 million people for a month. The UN has estimated that one tonne of food, which typically includes cereals, pulses and oil, could meet the daily needs of about 1 660 people.

The US President Donald Trump has cut funding for humanitarian aid and the work of USAID just as world hunger levels are rising due to war and climate change, threatening to undo decades of gains in the fight against hunger.

According to the World Food Programme, 343 million people worldwide are facing acute food insecurity, with 1.9 million facing critical hunger. The majority of these people live in Gaza, Sudan, and parts of South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali.

A spokesman for the State Department, which now controls USAID, said his agency is working to deliver food by July as part of the process of winding down USAID.

While the Trump administration has allowed some humanitarian programs to continue, including in Gaza and Sudan, the suspension of contracts and the freezing of money needed to pay suppliers and transporters have left food supplies stuck in warehouses. A plan to transfer those supplies to aid agencies is still under consideration.

• The reorganization of USAID will be carried out by July 1, 2025 — the last day of the multibillion-dollar agency that fought poverty and hunger around the world. The administration of US President Donald Trump has accused USAID of mismanaging taxpayer funds and funding foreign programs that allegedly do not serve US interests. Current and former USAID employees and experts say that the agency, despite its imperfections, has met vital humanitarian needs around the world and supported US soft power.

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