WASHINGTON, July 30, 2024 - Although products and ingredients containing U.S. dairy are currently in the field saving lives today, dairy has not featured prominently in international food aid programs to date. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development recently announced a $50 million pilot program to use non-traditional, shelf-stable commodities in international food assistance programming, which could be a way of bringing greater scale to successful interventions including dairy. The International Dairy Foods Association sees this pilot program as an opportunity for the U.S. Government to begin to use nutritious, shelf-stable dairy products in emergency food aid programs.
U.S. dairy products and ingredients are nutrient-rich, shelf-stable, safely produced, securely packaged, and widely available. Innovations containing dairy are offering new solutions to address hunger and malnutrition.
For example, newly developed ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs) containing high amounts of nourishing dairy ingredients are saving lives. Emergency response teams and local food banks are delivering nutritious shelf-stable milk to sustain and nourish families following natural disasters here in the United States. Infant and toddler formulas made with dairy ingredients are sustaining precious lives for millions of mothers around the world who may not have the option of breastfeeding their children, the first choice in early child nutrition. And a variety of highly nutritious dairy powders are available for inclusion in ongoing food assistance programs to supplement nutrition.
Becky Rasdall, IDFA’s senior vice president of trade and workforce policy, submitted comments to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service detailing the efficacy of using these products in existing food assistance programs.
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Becky Rasdall
Senior Vice President, Trade and Workforce Policy