The State Department meets the challenges of distribution of food aid after waste reports

First on Fox: The State Department says that it is working quickly to distribute tens of thousands of tonnes of food aid around the world, repelling the reports that the United States was preparing to incinerate hundreds of tonnes of supplies stored before being able to be delivered.

According to figures shared with Fox News Digital, the agency currently has 59,305 metric tonnes of food products in kind stored in warehouses across the United States and abroad.

“We have already scheduled all the food expired before October 2026,” said a senior official of the State Department. “The idea that we have tons of expired foods that we let gopill is simply false.”

The State Department said it had approved 44,422 tonnes of food to transfer or reprogram by partnerships with the World Food Program (WFP), Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps and cultivating new borders in agriculture (CNFA). This includes 30,000 tonnes of short -term food supplies already programmed for delivery to crisis areas such as Syria, Bangladesh and Sudan.

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30,000 tonnes of short-term food supplies are already scheduled for delivery in crisis areas such as Syria, Bangladesh and Sudan, illustrated above. (Ebrahim Hamid / AFP via Getty Images)

Additional 12,000 tonnes of aid await the final reprogramming, a delay that the ministry attributes to a temporary socket by the Management and Budget Office (OMB) on the Distributes of Title II – A problem that managers say have now been resolved.

“Insofar as there is a delay that causes operational problems, it is not the State Department,” said the official. “All foods expired over the next 16 months are counted.”

The manager also rejected the recent media coverage, arguing that the emphasis on a limited quantity of food near the expiration distorts the situation as a whole. “The very small portion – less than 1% of food stocks in the USAID – addressed by the consumer media was the exception of a very extensive and ordered process that we have ordered to guarantee that all foods were taken into account effectively and strategic.”

The Palestinians collapse for the distribution of food aid. (Eyad BABAAFP via Getty Images)

Public defense comes after several points of sale reported that the Trump administration ordered the incineration of around 500 tonnes of emergency food stored in Dubai when approaching expiration.

According to Reuters, while 622 tonnes have been successfully redirected to countries such as Syria, Bangladesh and Myanmar, an additional 496 tonnes – worth $ 793,000 – were destroyed, with an additional $ 100,000 in elimination costs.

The incident occurred within the framework of a broader restructuring of American foreign aid policy. In early July, the Trump administration officially dissolved USAID, transferring authority to development and humanitarian programs to the State Department. This change was accompanied by efforts to cancel billions of dollars in foreign aid.

A temporary aid break in January prompted the former Inspector General of the State Department to warn that up to $ 500 million in food aid was likely to expire. However, the ministry claims that the aid is now back online under a restructured model.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the vision of the administration for foreign aid, claiming that he abandoned what he called a “model of charity” in favor of the empowerment of growth and autonomy in developing countries. (Getty Images)

With the USAID deleted, the State Department is now responsible for the management of large -scale aid programs, and it is under pressure to deliver. Legislators and aid groups look closely to see if the newly reprogrammed food aid reaches the expected beneficiaries.

Democrats seized the incineration reports during the Congress hearings this week, accusing the Trump administration of having turned their back on urgent humanitarian needs. The reports were published for the first time by the Atlantic.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the vision of the administration for foreign aid, claiming that he abandoned what he called a “model of charity” in favor of the empowerment of growth and autonomy in developing countries.

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“We will promote nations that have demonstrated both the capacity and the desire to help themselves,” wrote Rubio, “and will target our resources in the fields where they can have a multiplier effect and catalyze the sustainable private sector – including American companies – and global investment.”

The new approach is designed to focus on trade and investment on direct aid and to position the United States to better counter the growing global influence of China.