A good article about U.S. food aid

The Plumpy Crusader

A new resource offers hope for the hungry, but Congress still holds the keys to food aid.

As Navyn Salem starts up the machines for the first time at her factory in Providence, R.I., this month, she has all the anxieties of any new business owner: whether the equipment will work, who will buy her products, how to cover her employees' benefits, and how to raise the profile of Edesia, the food-manufacturing producer she's launching. To that list, add a few more unconventional ones: how to make Edesia the first successful nonprofit provider of ready-to-use therapeutic (RUTF) food aid in the United States, how to revolutionize treatment of childhood malnutrition, and how to transform decades of counterproductive U.S. humanitarian aid policies, which place fiercely protectionist requirements on the food products that can be sent abroad during emergencies.

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DC "celebrity" sighting

On my way to dinner tonight, I saw House minority leader John Boehner having dinner at another restaurant across the street.  The photo I took isn't very good since my camera phone doesn't have zoom, but he's the guy at the left side of the table on the right:

The guys at the table just to the left are his security guys, probably Secret Service.  When I got out of the car, I was just looking over at John Boehner for a bit, which apparently made the security guy mad.  So he started glaring at me, and then he took a picture of me with his camera phone, probably to run through the FBI database later.  I thought it was pretty funny.  I wonder if they'll figure out who I am?  (If they're smart, they'll google "John Boehner" and probably find this blog entry).

USAID in the Wash Post!

An article about Rajiv Shah, the USAID Administrator, in the Washington Post:

Rajiv Shah, USAID director, on tackling global hunger and why women lead the way

By Mary Beth Sheridan

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 7, 2010

The number of people suffering from hunger has now topped 1 billion globally -- the highest since 1970, according to the United Nations. U.S. foreign-aid director Rajiv Shah, 37, recently presented the Obama administration's strategy to tackle the food crisis.

"Feed the Future" will focus on improving the agricultural systems of at least 20 countries. It's part of an international effort that could benefit 40 million poor people over a decade, officials say.

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