Earlier this month, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) welcomed the announcement that the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have signed an interagency agreement to USDA to assume administration of the Food for Peace program.  

Wheat Farmers Have Championed Efforts

“U.S. wheat farmers are the original champions of the in-kind donations provided by the Food for Peace program,” said Dalton Henry, USW vice president of communications and policy. “The program has fed millions of hungry people around the world since U.S. wheat farmers first proposed donating surplus food products like wheat more than 70 years ago. The program’s successful track record exemplifies the power of humanitarian assistance through supporting both those in need today and those who will be our future customers.”  

Food for Peace, also known as Public Law 480, was signed into law in 1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Since the program’s inception, U.S.-grown wheat has remained an important commodity for food assistance, routinely using around one million metric tons of U.S. wheat annually.  

Program Changes

The program’s administration shifted in 2025 to the State Department after the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was dismantled. That left the Food for Peace program as the only in-kind food assistance program using U.S.-grown commodities that was not administered by the USDA.  

For wheat farmers, the USDA is a more natural home for the program. The USDA already operates the other in-kind international feeding programs, including the school feeding-focused McGovern-Dole Food for Education and the development-focused Food for Progress programs. Like these other programs, Food for Peace is authorized by the Farm Bill and falls under the jurisdiction of the agricultural appropriations subcommittees. 

“The shift of Food for Peace to USDA is a significant step forward for the program’s future,” Henry said. “Aligning the program’s administration with USDA’s agricultural focus and technical expertise makes perfect sense for this flagship program that supports American farmers and people in need.”