Our History
America’s food assistance programs began in 1812 when President James Madison sent emergency aid to earthquake victims in Venezuela. Herbert Hoover led a huge feeding program in Russia during the 1920s in addition to famine relief programs during World War I and World War II in Europe. In 1949, the United States launched the Marshall Plan, which brought tons of food to the people of western Europe, planted the seeds for a rejuvenated and united Europe, and laid the foundations for a permanent U.S. food aid program. Many European countries we helped at that time have long since become major food exporters and important international donors.
On July 10, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Agricultural Trade Development Assistance Act—or Public Law (P.L.) 480—into law. The purpose of the legislation, the president said, was to “lay the basis for a permanent expansion of our exports of agricultural products with lasting benefits to ourselves and peoples of other lands.” Since that day, the lasting benefits President Eisenhower envisioned have come to pass. The 106 million metric tons of American food the United States has sent overseas over the past 50 years under Title II, the largest part of P.L. 480, have kept billions of people overseas from hunger, malnutrition, and starvation while creating thousands of jobs in the United States and abroad.
P.L. 480 is the principal mechanism through which the U.S. government implements its international food assistance. Renamed the Food for Peace Act in 2008, the law provides for direct donation of U.S. agricultural commodities to implement emergency and non-emergency programs worldwide. Title II of the Food for Peace Act, which authorizes the vast majority of U.S. international food assistance, is managed by the Office of Food for Peace.
Current Food for Peace programs stretch from sub-Saharan Africa to the former Soviet Union and from Latin America and the Caribbean to south Asia. Since its inception, Food for Peace has proven adaptable and flexible as food needs have evolved around the world. Despite these changes, the objectives remain the same: fighting hunger and malnutrition and promoting sustained economic growth and development.
For a more in-depth history of FFP, please see our 50th Anniversary booklet (pdf, 1,927kb)
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