Report Says U.S. Food Aid Needs A Healthy Makeover
By: Becky Bracken
Published: April 27, 2011

The U.S. is the largest supplier of food aid in the world. Last year alone, America fed 55 million of the world's hungry. But a recent report commissioned by USAID and released Tuesday says the nutritional value of the food given to the hungry is also critically important.
The report also links malnutrition in the earliest developmental years, the first 1,000 days from pregnancy through age two, to slow brain development and growth, which could cripple a country's productivity for generations.
The report recommends improving the nutritional value of foods distributed--especially to pregnant women and children--with more fortified foods and cereals and looking at technology that could increase the shelf life of fresher, less processed foods.
A meeting will be held in June to determine how to implement changes in food aid delivery based on the report.
Photo: from USAID