United nations

John Powell is Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian agency. In 2007, WFP provided food assistance to 73 million people in 78 countries, most of them women and children. In addition to feeding people in such troubled regions as Darfur, Chad, Congo, and Afghanistan, WFP aids the victims of natural disasters, families affected by HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children. Powell, who has been with WFP since 1990, has also worked for the World Bank and the Australian government. Gourmet Deputy Editor Jocelyn Zuckerman spoke with him about the skyrocketing prices of wheat and rice, the riots engulfing cities from Port-au-Prince to Dakar, and the short- and long-term priorities of his organization. (For more information about the World Food Programme, including details about the kinds of food the agency provides and where it comes from, visit wfp.org.) Read More »