Huffington Post: Anti-Hunger Groups Make Impassioned Pleas: the United States Should Support, Not Object, to Removing WTO Obstacles to Global Food Security
Deborah James, director of international programs at the Center for Economic and Policy Research

“…Removing WTO obstacles to food security — by allowing developing countries to invest in their own agricultural production, and feed their own populations, thus reducing their dependence on foreign aid — is achievable. … These changes … would bring the WTO more in line with the global consensus on agricultural investment and food security. It would allow developing countries to be more self-sufficient and less dependent on foreign aid. … It would help nations reach the new Sustainable Development Goals, to which the United States subscribed, of eradicating hunger and malnutrition. It … will remove key barriers that currently hamstring the ability of developing countries to reduce hunger at home. … Anti-hunger groups have taken a stand, and now can bring their powerful advocacy to bear on the WTO negotiations. Given the particular role of the U.S. in these talks, members of Congress who care about global food security are in a position to play a pivotal role in pushing the U.S. Trade Representative to rethink its current stance in the negotiations that is currently based on agribusiness export-lobby interests. This work can be achieved in partnership with farmers and right to food campaigns across the developing world…” (12/15).