For almost seven decades, the United States has played a leading role in global efforts to alleviate hunger and malnutrition and to enhance world food security through international food aid—primarily through either the donation or the sale on concessional terms of U.S. agricultural commodities. Since 2006, U.S. food aid has averaged nearly $2.5 billion per year—accounting for over 7% of total U.S. foreign aid. Health, economic, and security-related assistance account for most of the outlays. Current U.S. food aid programs had their origins in 1954 with Public Law 83-480, or "P.L. 480," as it was commonly known. P.L. 83-480 has since been amended multiple times and renamed as the Food for Peace Act (FFPA). One of the original purposes of "P.L. 480" in-kind food donations was to reduce large government stocks of program crops that had accumulated under U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) commodity price support programs while responding to humanitarian, economic development, and geopolitical goals in foreign countries. Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. food assistance goals have shifted more toward emergency response and support for long-term agricultural development. However, the United States continues to rely on domestic purchases of U.S. commodities as the basis for its food aid programs. In contrast, most other countries operating international food aid programs have converted primarily to cash-based food assistance. U.S. reliance on in-kind food aid has become controversial due to its identified inefficiencies and potential market distortions compared with cash-based assistance. Another concern regarding U.S. international food aid is how that food aid is delivered into foreign countries. In-kind food aid shipments are subject to a set of requirements that potentially limit the flexibility of the U.S. response to emergency food crises. U.S. laws require that all agricultural commodities be sourced from the United States; at least 50% of U.S. food aid must be shipped on U.S.-flag vessels; at least 20%, but not more than 30%, with a minimum of $350 million, of FFPA funding must be available for non-emergency food aid; at least 75% of in-kind food transfers dedicated to non-emergency assistance must be in a processed, fortified, or bagged form; at least 50% of any bagging must consist of whole-grain commodities bagged in the United States; and at least 15% of non-emergency food aid funding must be made available to qualifying nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for monetization—that is, the process of selling donated U.S. commodities in recipient-country markets to generate cash for development programs. Both the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations have sought greater flexibility in the use of U.S. food aid funding, particularly for cash-based assistance, in order to respond with greater expediency, at lower cost, and with more interest in meeting cultural food preferences when responding to international food emergencies. A majority of NGOs working in the realm of international food assistance and development, as well as some Members of Congress, support the goals of these efforts. U.S. commodity groups and food processors continue to advocate strongly for retention of in-kind transfers of U.S. commodities. A vocal minority of NGOs that benefit from the monetization of in-kind commodity transfers also support retention of in-kind transfers. In addition, U.S. maritime interests are strong advocates for retention of agricultural cargo preference (ACP) requirements associated with in-kind food aid. This report includes three principal sections: the first section is a description of U.S. international food aid programs under current law; the second section discusses several important policy issues related to U.S. international food aid; and the third section describes Administration and congressional proposals intended to change the nature of U.S. international food assistance. The U.S. government provides international food aid through a variety of programs administered by either USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) or the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Table 1 lists each international food assistance program, the year it was enacted (or first instituted in the case of the Emergency Food Security Program [EFSP]), the statutory authority, and the administering agency. The two implementing agencies, USDA and USAID, are under different congressional jurisdiction for authorization, oversight, and appropriations. Table A-1 (at the end of this report) provides a breakout of annual outlays by program since FY2006. Average annual spending on U.S. international food aid programs increased gradually over the past six decades ( Figure 1 ). During the FY2000 to FY2009 period ( Table 2 ), average food assistance outlays were approximately $2.2 billion annually, with FFPA Title II activities comprising the largest share (77% of outlays). More recently, FY2010-FY2014, new cash-based outlays under the EFSP have supplemented traditional FFPA Title II program outlays to push total U.S. international food aid program spending up slightly to about $2.4 billion annually while lowering Title II's share to 65%. When adjusted for inflation using year-2013 dollars (as shown in Figure 2 ), total U.S. food assistance outlays peaked in 1964 at $8.4 billion (2013 dollars) then declined to a low of $1.54 billion (2013 dollars) in 1996. In 2014, U.S. food assistance outlays were at $2.5 billion (2013 dollars), thus having somewhat recovered from the 1990s level. However, outlays remain well below the inflation-adjusted levels of the 1960s. The Agricultural Act of 1949 (P.L. 81-439; §416) permanently authorized the Section 416(b) program. As such, it represented the first permanent, large-scale U.S. international food aid program; however, its original intent was more than humanitarian response. The Cold War was beginning to influence foreign policy decisions, and policymakers viewed international food aid as an important foreign policy tool. U.S. agricultural producers were looking for new foreign markets to replace the now faded war-driven international demand of the 1940s. By the late 1940s, USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) was accumulating substantial stocks of wheat and corn as part of its commodity price support programs. These large CCC-owned stocks depressed domestic market prices and contributed to a cycle of government support payments and stock accumulation. Policymakers designed the Section 416(b) program, in part, to help draw down government stocks by donating and shipping surplus government-owned commodities to foreign countries that lacked sufficient buying power to participate in commercial markets. USDA (via the CCC) made surplus commodities available for donation through agreements with foreign governments, NGOs, cooperatives, and IOs. In the early years, Section 416(b) donations supplemented food supplies in food deficit countries. However, over time Section 416(b) food donations became a source of U.S. commodities for FFPA Title II and Title III programs, as well as for the Food for Progress program (described later in this report in " Food for Progress "). As a result, depending on the agreement, the cooperating sponsor could use commodities donated under Section 416(b) directly for distribution to a target population, or they could be sold (i.e., monetized) in the recipient country with the proceeds then used to support emergency and non-emergency activities, such as agricultural, economic, or infrastructure development programs. USDA administers the Section 416(b) program. It has been a highly variable component of food aid because it is entirely dependent on the availability of surplus commodities in CCC inventories. Thus, the program's utility has changed along with changes to federal price support programs. In particular, Congress instituted special marketing loan program benefits in the mid-1980s and decoupled price and income support programs in the mid-1990s to prevent further government stock accumulation of program crops. These changes eventually led to the depletion of government-owned grain stocks by 2006. The Section 416(b) program has been inactive since FY2007 because of the unavailability of CCC-owned stocks. The Food for Peace Act (FFPA), historically referred to as P.L. 480, is the main legislative vehicle that authorizes U.S. international food assistance. Under FFPA programs (with the exception of Title V, Farmer-to-Farmer), cooperating sponsors (i.e., implementing partners) ship U.S. commodities to recipient countries either for direct use in food distribution programs or for monetization. The Agricultural Trade Development Assistance Act of 1954 (P.L. 83-480) originally authorized FFPA in 1954 as the first comprehensive U.S. international food aid program. Since 1970 FFPA has been reauthorized as part of subsequent farm bills. Funding for FFPA programs is authorized in annual agriculture appropriations bills. FFPA food aid has five statutory objectives: combating world hunger and malnutrition and their causes; promoting sustainable agricultural development; expanding international trade; fostering private sector and market development; and preventing conflicts. The FFPA is comprised of four program areas, each listed under a different title and having a different objective. FFPA authorities for these programs are in the following titles. Title I, administered by USDA's FAS, authorizes concessional sales (i.e., using long-term, low-interest loans) of U.S. agricultural commodities to developing country governments and private entities to support specific non-emergency food security and development projects. Title I has been inactive since FY2006.