U.S. may burn hundreds of tons of food aid

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HUNDREDS of tons of British food aid shipped to America for starving Hurricane Katrina survivors is to be burned.

US red tape is stopping it from reaching hungry evacuees.

Instead tons of the badly needed Nato ration packs, the same as those eaten by British troops in Iraq, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption.

And unless the bureaucratic mess is cleared up soon it could be sent for incineration.



One British aid worker last night called the move "sickening senselessness" and said furious colleagues were "spitting blood".



The food, which cost British taxpayers millions, is sitting idle in a huge warehouse after the Food and Drug Agency recalled it when it had already left to be distributed.



Scores of lorries headed back to a warehouse in Little Rock, Arkansas, to dump it at an FDA incineration plant.



The Ministry of Defence in London said last night that 400,000 operational ration packs had been shipped to the US.



But officials blamed the US Department of Agriculture, which impounded the shipment under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.



The aid worker, who would not be named, said: "This is the most appalling act of sickening senselessness while people starve.



"The FDA has recalled aid from Britain because it has been condemned as unfit for human consumption, despite the fact that these are Nato approved rations of exactly the same type fed to British soldiers in Iraq.



"Under Nato, American soldiers are also entitled to eat such rations, yet the starving of the American South will see them go up in smoke because of FDA red tape madness."

The worker added: "There will be a cloud of smoke above Little Rock soon - of burned food, of anger and of shame that the world's richest nation couldn't organise a p**s up in a brewery and lets Americans starve while they arrogantly observe petty regulations.



"Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from Unicef are walking around spitting blood.



"This is utter madness. People have worked their socks off to get food into the region.



"It is perfectly good Nato approved food of the type British servicemen have. Yet the FDA are saying that because there is a meat content and it has come from Britain it must be destroyed.



"If they are trying to argue there is a BSE reason then that is ludicrously out of date. There is more BSE in the States than there ever was in Britain and UK meat has been safe for years."



The Ministry of Defence said: "We understand there was a glitch and these packs have been impounded by the US Department of Agriculture under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.



"The situation is changing all the time and at our last meeting on Friday we were told progress was being made in relation to the release of these packs. The Americans certainly haven't indicated to us that there are any more problems and they haven't asked us to take them back."



Food from Spain and Italy is also being held because it fails to meet US standards and has been judged unfit for human consumption.



And Israeli relief agencies are furious that thousands of gallons of pear juice are to be destroyed because it has been judged unfit.



The FDA said: "We did inspect some MREs (meals ready to eat) on September 13. They are the only MREs we looked at. There were 70 huge pallets of vegetarian MREs.



"They were from a foreign nation. We inspected them and then released them for distribution."​
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This was published yesterday I failed to see the rationale behind it. I had to laugh though that the NATO standard food packs were deemed "Unfit For Human Consumption" when we and the Challenger (British tankers.) used to say that as a joke all the time.
 
Like it makes a big difference. I could care less, because for years and years and years the united states has been giving um this so called " Food aid " to africa and it done a damn thing. Things are still worse over there,millions of people still sufffering.

If mankind can not solve the most smallest issues in this world, it would be highly impossible for them to solve the most bigger issues in this world - The General

The smallest issues in a general sense of speaking. Is to teach the nation to learn righteousness and self-control and love and kindness, and then teach them to be patience for the most important things in this life. Then the next step is to teach them that "

There are some in this world who will destory you and how others in this world, will show you compassion and be there for you and love you and help you - The General

The Next step is to build , get rid of that food aid, and build a nation with grocery stores, hospital's , build churches. Not churches in a sense of walls and bricks, but in spirit , because:

" You have heard from the old time, that a church is not a building, but a group of believers getting together as one. The old generation and the new generation , this could be anywhere, That is the body of Christ, O Father, Blessed us - Untouchable2K "

Now of course, there is more to it. But nothing is impossible and mankind hasnt learn anything good. I mean , if they make time to pass a stupid ass gay marriage law, they damn sure should be able to end poverty and suffering within the gates of Africa and other poor lands around the world.

But once again, they aint knowing. :applause:
 
U2K: Drugs are bad, mmkay?

Anyway, getting back to the actual topic: I wish I could say that this surprises me, but it doesn't. The Bush administration made their position clear immediately after the hurricane - they weren't accepting aid from foreign nations. That was a decision made based on pure arrogance. They eventually had to publicly pretend to change their position due to public outcry, but they clearly didn't actually change their position. They accepted the aid, dumped it in a warehouse, and now they're going to destroy it. America doesn't take hand-outs, no matter HOW many poor black people have to die!

Ultimately, I just can't help but to wonder, once again, if the Bush administration WANT to alienate every nation on the face of the earth. They certainly couldn't do a better job if they tried.
 
I'd like to take this time to paraphrase Mojo Nixon and say that Bush's middle initials should be changed to W.P.E. for Worst President Ever.
 
"The situation is changing all the time and at our last meeting on Friday we were told progress was being made in relation to the release of these packs. The Americans certainly haven't indicated to us that there are any more problems and they haven't asked us to take them back."
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Well hopefully it gets overturned, and if it doesnt dont burn it, give it to a third world country or something of that matter.
 
wtf do they know about the food being unfit. its not meant for them. its for the surivivors of katrina. america should get its head out of its ass.
 
Did this exact same thing happen with American food at one point? I could have sworn I remember a story where we sent food to a country and they let it rot because it didn't meet their standards?
 
[quote name='MrBadExample']I'd like to take this time to paraphrase Mojo Nixon and say that Bush's middle initials should be changed to W.P.E. for Worst President Ever.[/QUOTE]

We all know Bush was personally inspecting the food donations in Arkansas donated by foreign countries.

He most CERTAINLY deserves the blame for this one. I hear he's inspecting cattle as well which should result in Mad Cow disease to enter the American food chain any day now.
 
Well, I mean, c'mon now, it is *British* food after all.

or, if that didn't tickle your funny bone (which it shouldn't, since it wasn't that funny),

Perhaps the United States is right: after all, I'm certain other nations utilize the services provided by Kellogg, Brown, and Root.
 
On the one hand, I can understand that people have to cover their own butts, even in the aftermath of a disaster like Katrina. Nobody wants to dispense thousands of donated rations and then have 1% of those receiving the rations come down with some disease (regardless of whether it had anything to do with mad cow disease or not)....and then face the ensuing litigation. While lots of people feel outrage over the perceived "red tape BS," does anyone--even for a moment--believe that a hurricane victim in that situation would NOT sue?

On the other hand, it sure doesn't help matters to have public officials spewing forth rancid quotes like this one from the washington post:

U.S. Agriculture Department spokeswoman Terri Teuber said: "We are not saying these MREs are unfit or unsafe. We're saying they don't meet the importation standards, and they are being set aside. We are grateful for the donations, and they are being put to very good use."

The first part: true. The last part: utter, rank bullshit. Good use?! They're being put to GOOD USE?!? Stupid baldfaced lying biatch. You call sitting on a shelf in a warehouse good use for emergency rations??? The ability to call white black and up down in a public announcement must be the very first criteria for getting hired as a public official.

And here's another gem to brighten everyone's day:
*******
German Plane With Katrina Aid Turned Back By CLAUDIA KEMMER
The Associated Press
Saturday, September 10, 2005; 11:18 AM

BERLIN -- A German military plane carrying 15 tons of military rations for survivors of Hurricane Katrina was sent back by U.S. authorities, officials said Saturday.

The plane was turned away Thursday because it did not have the required authorization, a German government spokesman said.
 
[quote name='RBM']
The first part: true. The last part: utter, rank bullshit. Good use?! They're being put to GOOD USE?!? Stupid baldfaced lying biatch. You call sitting on a shelf in a warehouse good use for emergency rations??? The ability to call white black and up down in a public announcement must be the very first criteria for getting hired as a public official.

And here's another gem to brighten everyone's day:
*******
German Plane With Katrina Aid Turned Back By CLAUDIA KEMMER
The Associated Press
Saturday, September 10, 2005; 11:18 AM

BERLIN -- A German military plane carrying 15 tons of military rations for survivors of Hurricane Katrina was sent back by U.S. authorities, officials said Saturday.

The plane was turned away Thursday because it did not have the required authorization, a German government spokesman said.[/QUOTE]

Wow. Horrible. How do they expect people to get help. It makes you not want to donate money because of the possibility of it making no difference.
 
[quote name='RedvsBlue']Did this exact same thing happen with American food at one point? I could have sworn I remember a story where we sent food to a country and they let it rot because it didn't meet their standards?[/QUOTE]

I believe it was Zimbabwe or another African nation that turned away a shipload of grain because it was genetically modified. Evidently, the leadership of the country was more concerned with genetically modified grain than people dying of famine in said country.

EDIT: It was indeed Zimbabwe, in 2002.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/zimbabwe060702.cfm
 
The government is concerned that donated genetically modified, whole-kernel
corn might be replanted in Zimbabwe, starting an irreversible propagation of
untested grain.

"It is not so easy to say we're going to suspend our regulations because we
have a food emergency," said Abisa Mafa, registrar of the Research Council
of Zimbabwe's biosafety board.

Yet the Zimbabwean government is willing to feed genetically engineered
grain to its population. This year, it has accepted nearly 43 metric tons of
U.S. corn meal and corn-soy milk worth $27.5 million that the Americans
could not certify was non-GMO. Zimbabwe says corn meal and corn-soy milk are
acceptable because they have already been processed and cannot be planted to
grow crops.
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I guess that makes some sense. Then again, mugabe is paranoid and determined to show he doesn't need the west.
 
[quote name='elprincipe']I believe it was Zimbabwe or another African nation that turned away a shipload of grain because it was genetically modified. Evidently, the leadership of the country was more concerned with genetically modified grain than people dying of famine in said country.

EDIT: It was indeed Zimbabwe, in 2002.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/zimbabwe060702.cfm[/QUOTE]

If there's one thing that doesn't seem to bother Mugabe at all, it's the death of his citizenry.
 
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