By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to a new report released by Promar International and USA Maritime, the United States’ international food aid program, Food for Peace, helped create and sustain 871 jobs, resulting in $31 million in earnings in the state of Iowa in 2009.

“By way of processing and transporting food commodities to nations, the program provides millions of dollars in economic benefits and generates thousands of jobs for the state of Iowa,” said Tom Earley of Promar International in Alexandria, Va. in a recent teleconference.

A coalition of shippers and maritime unions committed to promoting and protecting the U.S. Maritime industry, USA Maritime and its members work together to educate policymakers, the media and the public about issues impacting the U.S. flag merchant marine and maritime industry, officials said.

Approved by the 83rd U.S. Congress in 1954 as part of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act, the Food for Peace program is one of the country’s oldest export assistance programs and is currently the main instrument for U.S. international food assistance.

“The program was originally designed to address surplus commodity situations in the United States through sales and donations to developing countries in need of the products, but it has evolved to focus on the food security and development needs of such countries,” the report said. “Rechristened in recent years as the Food for Peace Act, it contains three titles that have distinct food assistance objectives.”

The report, entitled “Impacts on the U.S. Economy of Shipping International Food Aid,” outlines such variables as output, earnings and jobs produced through the Food for Peace program throughout the United States.

By delivering food aid to foreign countries, the report said the maritime industry employs 11,500 in deep sea freight transportation and sustains more than 97,000 jobs in other parts of the U.S. economy, in areas dealing with the handling, processing and transporting of commodities from farmers to U.S. and foreign ports.

The report also said during Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, the U.S. exported 2.8 million metric tons of food aid to countries in need, of which 2.4 million metric tons were provided through PL 480 Title II.

The leading states that will be economically impacted through transporting food aid included Texas ($712 million), Illinois ($201 million), Iowa ($110 million), Louisiana ($149 million), Virginia ($94 million), Nebraska ($72 million), Oregon ($72 million), Minnesota ($71 million), Kansas ($71 million) and Indiana ($56 million).

The report found that nationally, the 11,500 U.S. jobs in deep sea freight transportation resulted in more than 97,000 jobs in other parts of the economy; and the program resulted in more than $523 million in earnings for U.S. households in FY 2009.

Ocean freight costs also accounted for $336 million (14.5 percent) of the $2.3 billion in aid appropriations in FY 2009. After MARAD reimbursements ($90 million) to USAID and USDA, they represent $246 (10.6 percent) of appropriations, the report said.

In addition, food aid cargo represents 15 percent of annual U.S. flag merchant vessel tonnage. If this volume were to be eliminated, the size of the U.S. flag would shrink by up to 30 percent, resulting in as many as 33,000 lost jobs nationwide, the report added.

Clint Eisenhauer, vice president of Maersk Inc. and USA Maritime spokesperson, said the United States has historically provided the bulk of its international food assistance in the form of U.S. commodities and food products.

“We maintain that the processing and transporting of Food for Peace to developing nations has positive economic impacts in the U.S. Moreover, food aid costs less than Iowa residents pay in grocery stores for basic commodities, despite the fact that food aid
is moved halfway around the world,” he said.

To read the full report, visit www.usamaritime.org