Soybean shippers want reauthorized McGovern-Dole aid bill passed

Soybean shippers want reauthorized McGovern-Dole aid bill passed    The largest U.S. soybean shipper group has asked Congress to support legislation reauthorizing a food aid program for developing countries.
   Reps. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., and Jim McGovern, D-Mass., introduced a bill (H.R. 6229)late Thursday to reauthorize the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program for fiscal 2007 through 2012.
   The U.S. Department of Agriculture started the program as a pilot in 2000. The 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act formally started the program, which received $100 million. H.R. 6229 calls for increased funding in $150 million increments over five years, starting with $250 million in fiscal 2008 and reaching $850 million in fiscal 2012.
   Through the McGovern-Dole program, numerous aid groups have asked for high-protein soy. “For a few cents per serving, high-protein soy can be added to foods that are already popular with children in developing countries,” said Richard Ostlie, president of the American Soybean Association, in a statement.
   In August 2004, USDA ordered up 800 metric tons of textured soy protein to Florida-based Food for the Poor to aid the feeding of 117,500 people in Guatemala. At the same time, Mercy Corps received soy protein concentrate to help feed 20,000 people in Eritrea.