US to Destroy 496 Metric Tons of Food as Millions Starve Worldwide

The United States will destroy nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food aid originally intended for starving children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, after President Donald Trump shut down USAID.

The high-energy, nutrient-dense biscuits, valued at $793,000, have been languishing in a Dubai warehouse and are now slated for incineration due to their expiration in July 2025, CNN reported.

The decision is tied to the Trump administration’s controversial closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on July 1, 2025.

The destruction will cost an additional $100,000 of US taxpayers money as aid officials label it a “heartbreaking waste”.

The biscuits were designed to provide immediate nutrition to malnourished children under 5 in crisis zones and could have fed approximately 27,000 people for a month or 1.5 million children for a week, according to estimates from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Reuters.

USAID obtained the food near the end of the Biden administration for emergency distribution in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where millions face severe food insecurity due to conflict and economic crisis.

However, the Trump administration’s decision to dismantle USAID, coupled with bureaucratic delays, has left the aid undelivered, with devastating consequences.

Questioned by lawmakers, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management Michael Rigas is reported to have acknowledged the link between the food’s destruction and the shutdown of USAID.

“I think that this was just a casualty of the shutdown of USAID,” he is quoted to have said.

He expressed distress over the food waste but offered little explanation on why the food was not distributed in time.

The closure of USAID, which was announced in January 2025, was part of President Donald Trump’s policy to reduce US foreign aid, which he argues places a disproportionate burden on American taxpayers.

The effort was led by Elon Musk’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), although Musk had long quit and exchanged bitter insults with Trump.

Thousands of USAID staff have been terminated and billions in aid programs have been frozen.

Implications of Aid Cuts

The destruction of the biscuits is part of a larger pattern of disruption caused by the Trump administration’s overhaul of US foreign aid.

The U.S., historically the world’s largest humanitarian donor, contributed $61 billion in assistance last year, with over half managed by USAID.

However, the agency’s closure has left vital programs in limbo, including 60,000 metric tons of food aid in warehouses globally, from Djibouti to the United States.

Global Hunger Crisis Intensifies

The destruction comes at a time when global hunger is surging.

The WFP estimates that 1.9 million people, primarily in Gaza and Sudan, face catastrophic hunger.

In Sudan, war has fueled the world’s worst famine in decades, while Gaza’s blockade by Israel has left half a million people on the brink of starvation, according to WFP.

The biscuits, designed for rapid deployment in crises where cooking facilities are unavailable, could have provided critical relief.

Instead, they will be incinerated or turned into landfill in the United Arab Emirates, where policy prevents their use as animal feed.