If our federal budget in 2024 were one dollar, 60 cents would go to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, 13 cents apiece would go to defense spending and paying off our debt, a nickel apiece would go to education and veterans’ benefits, and a single penny would go to foreign assistance. While it’s tempting to think that even that 1% is too much to ship away to parts unknown, the truth is that with that single penny from each tax dollar, we invest not just in vulnerable communities abroad, but also in our local economies—especially our agriculture.  

In 2024, 40% of the $5 billion allotted for global food relief was used to purchase American products. The Food for Peace program, which distributed American agricultural surpluses for global hunger relief, not only provided critical aid for populations suffering from food insecurity at a cost 78% cheaper than direct cash transfers, but also provided a lucrative market for over 400 American farmers, fisheries, and cooperatives to sell staples like beans, grains, and meat at a generous price. Foreign aid doesn’t appear out of thin air; it co-opts domestic producers and stimulates local economies. By incentivizing American agricultural producers to create surpluses and then buying those surpluses at prices well above market value, foreign aid provided a mutual benefit, feeding the hungry all while sustaining our own communities at home.

However, economic incentives aren’t the only way American agriculture benefits from foreign aid. Government-funded Feed the Future Innovation Labs carried out vital research and made cutting-edge innovations in the agricultural sector, from developing climate-resilient cereal grains to creating more efficient irrigation systems — innovations that could revolutionize agriculture not just in the Global South, but at home as well. In fact, according to a Kansas State University study, every one dollar invested in agricultural research by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) resulted in a return of $8.52. Research never exists in a vacuum; innovations in one field can expand to address other issues across a wide variety of sectors. Efforts to address universal challenges like climate change, sustainability, and efficiency do not just benefit a chosen few. By funding the institutions that tirelessly carry out such research, the solutions become an asset available to all.

With the myriad of benefits—abroad and domestically—that come from investing in foreign aid, it becomes clear that the 1% of our federal budget invested in foreign assistance programs is not too much; rather, it is too little.  By doubling the amount of money we give to foreign aid, we can uplift entire communities from the maladies of hunger and poverty.  We can empower people to build sustainable, self-sufficient livelihoods—advancing American interests in the process.

Humanitarian development and food aid are the cheapest ways to keep Americans safe. According to the United States Global Leadership Coalition, every $1 invested in keeping nations stable and healthy saves $16 in military response costs.  Additionally, in promoting stability abroad, foreign aid opens up new markets for American businesses to generate revenue; some of the most reliable consumers of US agricultural products, like South Korea and the EU, were once recipients of aid. Foreign aid isn’t just an instrument for distributing water, food, and other critical services; it’s an instrument for spreading trust and goodwill that opens up markets for American products far more effectively than isolationist trade policies do. A United States that acts as a force for development, democracy, and mutual prosperity ultimately gains more for its people than a government that secludes itself from the rest of the world.

Foreign aid does not mean shipping away a pile of cash never to be seen again. It means investing in communities.  It means funding innovations in agriculture, in medicine, in sustainability—innovations that can be implemented at home. It means helping the most vulnerable while simultaneously amplifying America’s voice on the global stage. It means creating a safer, healthier, richer world—for all of us.

If we can do that with one penny for every tax dollar, imagine what we could accomplish with two pennies.