Urban Sociology Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Urban Sociology - Article Example Based on the article written by Mousseau & Mittal (2006: 66), stakeholders who greatly benefit from food aid are not really the less benefit individuals who live in developing countries but the U.S. food manufacturer, U.S. shipping companies, the NGOs, and relief organizations. In the case of food manufacturer, Horizon Milling – a U.S. based company that produces wheat and flour products (Horizon Milling, 2008) sold as much as $1.09 billion worth of grain for food aid operation since 1995. By establishing a strong ties with the U.S. government, the company was able to earn significantly large amount of profit without having to worry about potential competitors that could offer the U.S. government with cheaper prices of similar food products. Since most of the U.S. food aid is given to developing countries in the form of ‘in-kind’, U.S. based manufacturing companies that produces food, seeds, and other farming related products are the ones that earns profit out of the food aid program. The same is true in the case of the U.S. shipping companies since the 1985 Farm Bill requires 75% of the U.S. food aid to be shipped solely by U.S. vessels. (Mousseau & Mittal, 2006: 66) Given that the United States is considered a developed country, the volume of food products that is shipped to developing countries under the said food aid program is significantly less because of the high prices of U.S. food products and the shipping cost via U.S. vessels. For this reason, it is arguable that the U.S. food aid program is not really focused on minimizing the global hunger but a way of strengthening its own economy by allowing the food manufacturing and U.S. shipping companies to earn more profit from the said program. The main focus of the U.S. food aid program is to increase the sales and profitability of its local food manufacturers and shipping companies rather than