Incomprehensible waste: tons of food for malnourished children will be incinerated

The administration of President Donald Trump is facing a wave of severe criticism after the press revealed that tons of food intended for malnourished children will be incinerated, in the context in which the United States drastically reduces international aid. The revelations by the international press have sparked outrage among American senators and humanitarian organizations, highlighting the consequences of recent budgetary and institutional policies.

• High-energy biscuits, left to expire in a closed warehouse

According to The Atlantic magazine and the AFP agency, the targeted products are high-energy biscuits, used in emergency interventions to feed malnourished children, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Purchased toward the end of the Biden administration for about $800,000, the cookies expired in July in a warehouse in Dubai, while the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was closed. The Trump administration now plans to allocate another $130,000 to destroy the food by incineration-a decision that has sparked outrage in Congress.

• U.S. Senators: "We'd Rather Burn Food Than Give It to Starving Children”

"The government would rather keep the warehouse closed, let the food expire, and then burn it than distribute it,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said during a tense hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kaine says he raised the issue since March, without receiving a concrete response from the administration. Michael Rigas, the State Department's director of management and personnel, admitted during the hearing that he did not have "a good answer” for the situation. He later admitted that he was "deeply saddened” by the waste and promised to investigate the causes. Rigas explained that the situation was "simply a casualty of the USAID shutdown.”

• USAID's Dissolution - an Earthquake in US Foreign Aid Policy

USAID, one of the world's leading international aid agencies, was officially dissolved on July 1, 2025, after more than six decades of operation. The Trump administration claimed that the agency "no longer serves America's interests” and decided to integrate it into the State Department. In the diplomatic and humanitarian world, the decision was described as "devastating.” In parallel, the United States began a series of massive cuts to funding for international programs. According to congressional sources, under pressure from the White House and the DOGE Commission - an initiative supported by billionaire Elon Musk - budget cuts of almost $9 billion are expected this week. Of this amount, about $8 billion would have been initially allocated to foreign aid.

• Harsh criticism from Democratic senators

During the same hearing, Senator Jeanne Shaheen launched a direct attack on the Trump administration: "Because of chaotic and incompetent decisions - cutting funding, laying off staff, eliminating key programs - American taxpayers will pay the bill, and children will go hungry.” She accused a lack of vision and planning, drawing attention to the moral and economic costs of abandoning global humanitarian commitments.

In defense of current policies, Michael Rigas reiterated that, despite the cuts, the United States "remains the largest humanitarian aid donor in the world.” However, the reality on the ground - especially in fragile countries like Afghanistan and Yemen - indicates a decline in food and medical aid deliveries from Washington, and the effects are already being felt.

• A choice of priorities or a renunciation of global leadership?

The burning of food intended for malnourished children is becoming, symbolically, a sign of a deeper shift in US foreign policy - a calculated retreat from its traditional role as a global leader in humanitarian aid. Against the backdrop of increasingly frequent conflicts, food crises and natural disasters, such decisions can have direct consequences for millions of lives. At a time when the global need for solidarity is greater than ever, the gesture of burning food intended for hungry children seems to send a grim message: domestic interests now outweigh international responsibility.