On April 30, 2025, Trickle Up joined 30 other organizations in an address to Chair Andy Harris and Ranking Member Sanford Bishop of the Subcommittee on Agriculture within the House Committee on Appropriations, and Chair John Hoeven and Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen of the Subcommittee on Agriculture within the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

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Dear Chair Harris, Chair Hoeven, Ranking Member Bishop, and Ranking Member Shaheen:

We urge you to invest no less than $1.69 billion in Food for Peace Title II and $240 million in McGovern-Dole Food for Education within your FY2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (“Agriculture”) appropriations bills, consistent with FY25 enacted levels. These programs, along with Food for Progress, are working to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.

The international food aid programs funded by the Agriculture appropriations bill are a strategic investment in global stability, providing life-saving assistance labeled “from the American people”. These programs purchase food from U.S. farmers, ranchers, and millers in 23 states. As mandated, they ensure assistance reaches the people who need it, serving millions of children and their families around the world by giving them life-saving food and putting them on a path to self-reliance.

In FY23, the last year for which data is available, Food for Peace reached more than 45 million people with emergency food and nutrition support, including helping 637,000 children recover from life-threatening malnutrition with Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food. It also invested in long-term solutions that help families build resilience and reduce dependence on aid. McGovern-Dole provided nutritious school meals to over 2.5 million children in food insecure countries in FY23, strengthening communities and generating goodwill for the United States.

Our organizations are proud to partner with the U.S. government to support and implement effective, high-quality and high-impact Food for Peace, McGovern-Dole, and Food for Progress programs. Partners work hard to ensure every taxpayer dollar is used as efficiently as possible within statute and policy, including through strong targeting, oversight, monitoring, and evaluation of activities. These programs work every day to relieve hunger and malnutrition, create opportunity, and prevent fragility from spiraling into crisis. We ask that you include no less than $1.69 billion for Food for Peace and $240 million for McGovern-Dole in your FY26 Agriculture appropriations bills, consistent with FY25 enacted levels.

Thank you for your leadership to make America stronger, safer, and more prosperous – as well as saving the lives of children and families in need – through your investments in Food for Peace, McGovern-Dole, and Food for Progress.

Sincerely,

1,000 Days, an initiative of FHI 360

1890 Universities Foundation

Action Against Hunger

ADRA International

Alliance to End Hunger

CARE

CNFA

Congressional Hunger Center

Counterpart International

Edesia Nutrition

Food for the Hungry

Global Child Nutrition Foundation

Global Communities

Helen Keller Intl

International Medical Corps

International Rescue Committee

Islamic Relief USA

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA

Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

Mercy Corps

Nascent Solutions Inc.

Opportunity International

Oxfam America

Première Urgence Internationale

RESULTS

Save the Children

SPOON

Trickle Up

WaterAid America

World Food Program USA

World Vision

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