U.S. Dry Bean Industry Pushes to Provide Food to Ukrainians

As the crisis in Ukraine enters its second month, the U.S. dry bean industry, along with many of our colleagues in agriculture, feels the strong pull to help by providing food.  The initial U.S. government response to the crisis in terms of food and nutritional assistance is to provide cash, vouchers, and access to disaster assistance funds which require food for relief to be purchased from non-U.S. origins. Any in-kind food assistance provided by the US Government will come through the World Food Programme (WFP) whose initial response is to purchase food from cheaper origins closer to Ukraine and the countries where refugees are amassing. The situation is dire enough that it is going to take all of us to help and the U.S. dry bean industry stands ready to provide food. We have sent letters to WFP, USAID, and USDA offering to provide U.S. dry beans to the people of Ukraine through in-kind food assistance. Individual industry members have sent similar letters to their legislative representatives. We have also supported, through different coalitions, efforts to release funds from the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust (BEHT) to purchase U.S. commodities, even though this would not include beans. It is disheartening that the situation in Ukraine continues to decline and as such, we will continue to push for more in-kind food assistance from the U.S. so that our industry can help the people of Ukraine to remain food secure.