WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -  The Trump administration has ordered 500 metric tons of emergency food aid—enough to feed 1.5 million malnourished children for a week.
 The high-energy biscuits, intended for children under five living in war and disaster zones, are currently being stored in a warehouse in Dubai and were meant to be shipped out this year, but will instead go to waste due to cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effectively halting nearly all forms of foreign aid.  
Current and former aid workers, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, told media that the sheer scale of waste is unprecedented. Despite repeated assurances from the administration not to eliminate food aid, U.S. warehouses around the world currently house 60,000 tons of food, including peas and cereal originally bound for famine-stricken Sudan, which the administration is now unable to deliver even if it wanted to after gutting USAID and firing logistical experts. 
 The amount of food set to be incinerated would be enough to feed every single child currently starving in Gaza.
 A U.S. State Department spokesperson said, “USAID is continuously consulting with partners on where to best distribute commodities at USAID prepositioning warehouses for use in emergency programs ahead of their expiration dates.”
However, contract cancellations and frozen funds under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have caused food stocks to be stuck in warehouses in Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai, and Houston.
UNICEF warned in late March that supplies of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) were running low in 17 countries due to funding cuts. This shortage risks leaving 2.4 million severely malnourished children without treatment for the rest of the year.
Action Against Hunger, a non-profit relying on the US for over 30% of its budget, said U.S. aid cuts have already led to at least six child deaths.