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“More needs to be done” said President Bush about the current world food crisis. And one would think he has the right to make that statement after requesting $620 million from congress for food aid (another $150 million for some sort of development project).

The problem is that America hasn’t actually been that generous. To start, their aid continues to be “tied”, meaning that all of the supplies purchased with that money must be purchased from American suppliers. Buying goods from specified suppliers, at specified prices, means the money doesn’t go as far as it could if the World Food Programme were able to look for the most cost-effective source. In fact, it loses 30 per cent of its value. So Mr. Bush only really pledged $434 million.

Well, that’s still a lot, right? Not quite. Because the goods are purchased in America, from American farmers and manufacturers, the money stays put. It doesn’t go to farmers in the affected areas who would benefit from increased revenue to expand their capabilities, breaking the cycle of subsistence and reducing the need for hand outs in the future. It doesn’t enter the poor economies in the form of extra jobs or higher wages, which would give those workers the means to purchase their food rather than wait for the handout. Instead, the money, up to 80% of it, just gets redistributed through the US to citizens with enormous wealth, compared to those needing the aid. The result is that George will only have to give away $124 million, the rest is farm aid for his own people.

Again, $124 million isn’t chump change, but I would like to take this opportunity to point out what my own (Canadian) government has done, because miraculously, they’ve done something worth bragging about. We’ve pledged $50 million of one hundred percent un-tied aid!

That’s right; the World Food Programme can spend the money in the most efficient way they find. They can spend it in the economies that need the boost most. And spending it that way will turn a hand out into a hand up.

Here in Canada, we have just over 33 million people. Down in dem der states, they’ve got just over 300 million. Now, I’ll make allowances for their current “economic downturn” (we still don’t want to use the term recession, of course). Nevertheless they’re sending just two and a half times more money out of the country than we are, yet they have 10 times the population. Something doesn’t add up here. Especially when you consider Bush’s statement that America “believe[s] in the timeless truth, to whom much is given, much is expected.”

I say it’s time for the “Leader of the Free World” to step up and lead, to provide some real aid, to do the ‘more’ that by his own admission is needed, and to live up to the expectation that comes with being the country to whom the most is given.

~~In the mean time, we can all give too, by visiting the WFP websiteand contributing a few days worth of latte money. Or by going to www.freerice.com and testing your vocabulary!