Meds & Food for Kids hosts St. Louis forum on new approaches to hunger

Meds & Food for Kids will convene an expert panel in St. Louis on Sept. 24 to discuss how humanitarian aid can respond to rising global hunger after the dismantling of USAID. The forum will focus on local solutions in Haiti and other crisis zones as aid funding falls and more people face acute food insecurity.

Why it matters: - Global hunger is worsening as humanitarian funding falls and old aid systems are being rewritten. - The forum will focus on practical models that can deliver food, nutrition and local economic support in crisis settings. - Haiti is a central case study because the country’s hunger crisis is deepening alongside violence, displacement and political instability.

What happened: - Meds & Food for Kids will host the forum, Zero Hunger: Doing What Works, in St. Louis on Sept. 24, 2026. - The event runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac, 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd. - Three experts in international humanitarian aid will speak about how the world can respond differently to hunger. - The panel comes after USAID ceased operating as an independent agency in 2025 and major portions of U.S. foreign assistance were eliminated or transferred. - Roughly 645 million people experienced hunger in 2025.

The details: - Speakers include Dianna Darsney, global humanitarian director for CARE and a former senior USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance official. - Jamie Rhoads, interim executive director and director of partnerships and strategy for the Haiti Food Systems Alliance, will also speak. - Chris Greene, CEO of Meds & Food for Kids, will discuss the organization’s work in Haiti. - Lora Iannotti, PhD, Lauren and Lee Fixel Distinguished Professor at the Washington University Bursky School of Public Health and co-director of the university’s Food and Agriculture Research Mission, will moderate. - The panel will examine hunger drivers in Haiti, Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria and Gaza. - The discussion will also look at bottlenecks that keep food from reaching vulnerable populations. - Darsney said conflict and displacement are the largest drivers of food insecurity, followed by weather and economic shocks. - Darsney also said climate shocks and conflict now co-occur in more than 70% of crisis countries. - In Haiti, nearly 6 million people were experiencing acute food insecurity in the latest international analysis. - Meds & Food for Kids operates a factory in Haiti that produces therapeutic food for children with malnutrition and nutritious foods for mothers and schoolchildren. - The organization employs more than 80 Haitians at the factory and supports increased local peanut production for its nutrition products. - The forum’s name refers to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal No. 2: Zero Hunger.

Between the lines: - The event reflects a broader shift in humanitarian thinking away from centralized foreign aid and toward local production, local hiring and local supply chains. - Greene said the global aid system is being reordered, creating an opening to rethink how hunger relief is designed and measured. - Rhoads argued that aid success should be judged by outcomes, not dollars spent. - Rhoads also said humanitarian organizations should buy from local farmers whenever possible. - The panel’s lineup suggests an emphasis on pairing emergency food aid with long-term capacity building.

What’s next: - Panelists are expected to outline strategies that can work in Haiti and other crisis zones under tighter funding conditions. - The discussion will likely center on funding models that reward results and give local systems time to build capacity. - Meds & Food for Kids will use the forum to highlight approaches it sees as more durable than traditional aid delivery.

The bottom line: - The St. Louis forum is pushing a clear message: hunger relief may need to move from a donor-led model to one built around local systems, local jobs and measurable outcomes.