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Texas Agriculture Archive

April 18, 2003

USDA Undersecretary of Agriculture (and Texas Farm Bureau member) Jim Butler, said, "Humanitarian assistance is a demonstration of our compassion as a nation and this president's (President Bush) commitment to a free and prosperous Iraq."

Texas wheat part of aid shipment
to Iraq

By Mike Barnett
Editor

Weapons of war have received high profile with the ongoing conflict with Iraq. But as the war presses on, a tool of peace—food for a needy nation—is taking center stage.

A press conference dock-side on April 3 at the Port of Galveston marked the shipping of 28,000 metric tons of bulk hard red winter wheat grown in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas on the M/V Free Atlas, a bulk carrier bound for the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr. Another 28,500 metric tons were loaded previously on the M/V Yellow Rose, which departed April 1.

The wheat shipment—enough to feed 4.5 million Iraqis for one month—is only a portion of the total food aid the U.S. government is providing the people of Iraq. The U.S. will provide up to 610,000 metric tons of food worth $300 million. An additional $260 million is being provided to the U.N. World Food Program for food distribution and logistical support.

Fred Schieck, deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the wheat shipment symbolizes a commitment on the part of the United States to the liberation of Iraq and "freedom of its people and the reconstruction of the country." Schieck noted President Bush's recent commitment to bring the Iraqi people "food and medicine and a better life."

"The wheat being loaded today is tangible evidence of that commitment," Schieck said, "that the United States will go all out to insure the people of Iraq will be able to quickly return to normal productive lives under a government dedicated to promoting the well-being of all Iraqi citizens."

The emergency food assistance effort was a joint effort between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and USAID's Food for Peace Program.

USDA Deputy Undersecretary and Texas Farm Bureau member Jim Butler noted the contributions and the amazing productivity of U.S. agriculture.

"U.S. farmers and ranchers have increased productivity through efficient production means, and at the same time, conserved our natural resources," Butler said. "We produce more than we need. And with this efficiency, it's why we are able to help many around the world.

"I have spent my life in agriculture as a producer, an educator and have been involved in many agricultural organizations," Butler continued. "I know that U.S. farmers and ranchers are proud of our productivity and are proud to provide this wheat to the citizens of Iraq."

Butler noted that nearly one-third of the children in southern and central Iraq suffer from malnutrition. He said birth rates are low, and infant mortality is high. In addition, the deputy undersecretary said agriculture has been neglected and economic development stifled.

"When milled, today's shipment of 28 tons of hard red winter wheat will provide every man, woman and child (in Iraq) with almost one pound of flour," he said. "This shipment is only the beginning. All together, the United States will be providing up to 600,000 tons of wheat, rice, beans and vegetable oil for Iraq's citizens as needed until the U.N.'s Oil for Food Program is restarted."

The wheat contained in the April 1 and 3 shipments came from the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust, an emergency reserve administered under the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture. On March 20, the Bush Administration announced the immediate release of 200,000 metric tons of wheat from the trust, with another 400,000 tons to be made available as needed.