New York Times describes opposition to, support of Obama administration plan to reform food aid

"An Obama administration plan to change the way the United States distributes its international food aid has touched off an intense lobbying campaign by a coalition of shipping companies, agribusiness and charitable groups who say the change will harm the nation's economy and hamper efforts to fight global hunger," the New York Times reports. "Proponents of the plan, however, say it would enable the United States to feed about 17 million more people each year, while helping to fight poverty by buying the crops of farmers in poor countries," the newspaper writes. The Obama administration's 2014 budget is expected to propose allowing the government to issue cash-grants to purchase food aid in the U.S. or closer to the region in need and ending "monetization," "a process by which Washington gives American-grown grains to international charities" to resell in local markets and "use the money to finance their antipoverty programs," according to the newspaper. The New York Times includes comments from supporters and opponents of the proposed changes and examines the history of food aid reform in the U.S. (Nixon, 4/4).