From Aid Recipients to Local Producers

The Next Phase of U.S. Food Assistance

April 17, 2026
Chris Greene, CEO, Meds & Food for Kids

I’ve spent more than a decade building certified nutrition manufacturing in Haiti. Local production in a fragile state is slower than shipping from the U.S. It requires disciplined quality systems, workforce development, and infrastructure investment – with no immediate political reward.

But when it works, it changes the equation. Communities shift from recipients to producers. Supply chains get anchored locally. Institutional competence builds. Dependency shrinks.

That shift isn’t just humanitarian. It’s strategic.

A System Built for a Different World

The United States has responded to global hunger the same way since 1954. The Food for Peace Act solved two real problems simultaneously — hunger abroad and agricultural surplus at home — and it has endured because it built a durable political coalition: farmers, millers, mariners, ports, and aid agencies all with skin in the game.

That system has saved lives. It is also highly effective at moving food — and far less effective at reducing the need to move it. It wasn’t designed for a world where 673 million people are chronically undernourished, 60-70% of the food-insecure live in conflict-affected countries, and the average displacement now exceeds a decade.

We are no longer primarily responding to short-term crop failure. We are operating inside long-term fragility — weak institutions, broken markets, conflict economies, and climate volatility layered on top of one another.

Different Problem. Different Tool.

Acute famine requires surge logistics. 

Fifteen-year fragility requires something different.

The capacity for crisis response must stay intact. When famine hits, the United States needs to move American commodities rapidly and at scale. That capability is strategic infrastructure — it should be treated like a reserve, clearly defined, funded, and deliberately maintained.

But crisis response capacity alone is not a strategy for chronic instability. And chronic instability is the dominant operating environment.

This is not an argument for dismantling what works. It is an argument for evolving it.

Modernization means preserving strong funding levels. It also means expanding procurement flexibility where the evidence supports it — pairing U.S. commodities for acute emergencies with certified, standards-driven regional and local manufacturing in protracted contexts. 

Local manufacturing carries real risk: governance risk, quality risk, political risk. So does permanent dependency. We just don’t measure it the same way. Localizing production is not a retreat from American interests. It is how you protect them.

It’s also geopolitical.

Food Security is National Security

China’s Belt and Road Initiative has deployed over a trillion dollars to embed influence through infrastructure and supply chains. Food systems are part of that strategy. Countries that cannot produce, process, or control their own food supply remain strategically vulnerable.

If U.S. assistance reinforces long-term import dependency without building production capacity where feasible, we are financing consumption and calling it stability.

The downstream effects are predictable: fragile food systems generate migration pressure, migration pressure becomes domestic political pressure, and domestic political pressure reshapes foreign policy. Food security is not only humanitarian. It is national security.

From Response to Strategy

The real choice isn’t between American farmers and foreign factories. It never was.

The real choice is whether U.S. food assistance remains a permanent response pipeline — or becomes a strategy.

Protect the capacity for crisis response. 

Deploy commodities for acute emergencies. 

Build certified regional and local capacity in protracted contexts — to reduce the frequency of those emergencies in the first place.

The humanitarian system was designed to respond. The next phase must also build — or we will continue financing permanent responses in environments that never stabilize. That is not a rejection of what has worked. It is an adaptation to the world we are actually operating in. 

The capability exists. Expanding Local and Regional Procurement policy to recognize certified local manufacturing in protracted contexts is a logical next step.

March 22, 2026

March is Women’s History Month, and we are privileged to have had so many talented Haitian women on our team throughout MFK’s 22 years. Today, 28 women in Haiti make our mission possible by training farmers, producing lifesaving foods, treating malnourished children, and more.

“Resilience is the best word to describe Haitian women; on many occasions, they have proven to be the best example of strength.”

– Aminata Blanc, MFK Human Resource Manager

2026 is also the Year of the Woman Farmer. In the past year, a record 355 women participated in MFK’s agriculture training program, and more continue to join and learn. These women are not only farmers – they are businesswomen, mothers, and engaged community members making a difference by strengthening food systems.

As more women continue developing farming skills in Haiti, more families will have access to food, more jobs will be created, and fewer children will be malnourished. By becoming agricultural leaders, Haitian women are shaping the future.

“Women are a stabilizing force in a significant number of Haitian communities. They are the rock of their families.”

– Chris Greene, MFK CEO

To all the women of MFK and Haiti, mèsi anpil!

Solving the Bottleneck: MFK’s New Facility Ensures Lifesaving Supplies Reach Haitian Families

Meds & Food for Kids (MFK) has significantly increased its capacity in 2025, taking on the critical role of warehousing and distributing essential humanitarian supplies for UNICEF and the Haitian Ministry of Public Health (MSPP). MFK is now storing and distributing all therapeutic food, medical, and hygiene supplies throughout Haiti for the two major partners. This comes after MFK built a new warehouse and perimeter wall at its factory site in Cap-Haitien, Haiti.

“MFK continues to deliver on our mission to save lives and transform futures, and warehousing and distribution provide new sources of revenue to increase our impact,”  says Chris Greene, chief executive officer of Meds & Food for Kids. 

An anonymous donor financed the construction of the warehouse and perimeter wall.

“In a period of heightened instability, the new perimeter wall has provided greater security. This has been invaluable – not just for staff morale – but also for building confidence among our partners and stakeholders,” says Remenson Tenor, chief operating officer of MFK. 

The World Food Programme, UNICEF, and MSPP now view MFK’s Cap-Haitien site as one of the safest and most strategically sound locations in the country for warehousing and transport operations. 

“Partners know MFK for its ability to deliver supplies the last mile to remote communities,” Greene says. “MFK excels at last-mile distribution because we are locally led.”

Before the MSPP and UNICEF asked for help with last-mile distribution, essential supplies were not reaching government clinics. Warehouses had become bottlenecks; children were going untreated. 

“MFK stepped in not to replace the Haitian food and nutrition system, led by Dr. Joseline Marhone Pierre, but to help preserve it – to keep it functional long enough to reform,” Greene says. “The initiative pairs MFK’s logistics with government oversight, data integration, and staff participation so that capacity grows alongside service delivery.”

While expanding service to Haitian families through last-mile distribution, MFK’s top priority continues to be treating starving children with ready-to-use therapeutic food for severely malnourished children. MFK has fed more than one million children and mothers since its founding in 2003.

“Getting it to them is the hard part”

Scripps • May 14, 2025

Click to read the article

We recently talked with Scripps News about how Meds & Food for Kids is treating malnourished children in Haiti.

Check out the article and video for an inside look at our factory operations & clinic partnerships, which help make MFK a “rare symbol of hope.”

Building sustainable impact in Haiti starts with local solutions. Our Haitian team uses culturally-relevant expertise to save lives, transform futures, and create lasting change across communities.

Real impact means fostering independence.

As Haitian families gain sustainable livelihoods, knowledge, and skills, they build self-reliance and resilience. This isn’t just short-term aid, it’s long-term transformation led by Haitians. 

Expanding Impact, Transforming Futures

2024 was a challenging year for Haiti. Half of the country’s population is at Crisis or higher levels of food insecurity, and more than 1 million Haitians are  displaced due to ongoing violence.

At the same time, it was an impactful year for Meds & Food for Kids, setting records that give us hope for 2025.

Our 2024 accomplishments highlight the impact and power of localization. MFK’s dedicated Haiti team transforms futures for Haitian families and communities, and continues to work towards sustainable change for a stronger Haiti. Thank you for your support of their critical work!

Friends,

2023 is coming to a close, and as we reflect on the year we are proud to share some of Meds & Food for Kids’ key milestones:

• This year was MFK’s 20th anniversary. Children saved in the organization’s early years are now young adults, whose talents would have been lost to malnutrition two decades ago without treatment.
• Our factory in Haiti is now using solar energy instead of diesel. This has enabled MFK to produce more therapeutic foods with additional shifts, and so far has reduced over 211 tons of CO2 emissions.
• In May MFK produced a record 15,000 treatments for severely malnourished children.
• We hosted our first annual “Zero Hunger: Doing What Works” forum featuring author Roger Thurow discussing solutions for the global hunger crisis.
• CEO Chris Greene and COO Remenson Tenor hosted the first MFK Zoom calls to share updates about the work in Haiti.‍

This is possible thanks to donors who support MFK’s work to save lives and transform futures.

Over 20 years, we have treated more than 900,000 malnourished children and mothers. Together, we can reach 1 million.

Thank you for an incredible 2023. We look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in 2024.

Mèsi anpil,
Chris Greene, CEO
Remenson Tenor, COO
Dr. Patricia Wolff, Founder