The US Army in Haiti was told to stop distributing food packages to thousands of people at a tent city. The main US aid agency, USAID, said the Army should not be handling food handouts. It was unclear if this was a high-level policy decision or confusion in the complex aid operation. The Army major in charge said approval to provide rations was revoked by USAID, though water distribution was allowed to continue. Over 10,000 displaced people were relying on daily food packages at the tent city.

1. USA Today
January 20, 2010
Pg. 5
Soldiers Told To Stop Handing Out Food
By Jim Michaels, USA Today
Food handouts were shut off Tuesday to thousands of people at a tent city here when the main
U.S. aid agency said the Army should not be distributing the packages.
It was not known whether the action reflected a high-level policy decision at the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) or confusion in a city where dozens of entities are involved
in aid efforts.
"We are not supposed to get rations unless approved by AID," Maj. Larry Jordan said.
Jordan said that approval was revoked; water was not included in the USAID decision, so the
troops continued to hand out bottles of water. The State Department and USAID did not respond
to requests for comment.
Jordan has been at the airport supervising distribution of individual food packages and bottled
water since his arrival last week. Each package provides enough calories to sustain a person for a
day.
The food is flown by helicopter to points throughout the capital and distributed by paratroopers
of the 82nd Airborne Division. At the tent city, set up at a golf course, more than 10,000 people
displaced by the Haitian earthquake lay under makeshift tents. Each day, hundreds of people,
many young children, line up for a meal.
Tuesday morning, the helicopters came only with water. Soldiers carried boxes of water in the
hot sun and supervised Haitian volunteers who handed the supplies out.