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entities. Yet, our food assistance programs are operated under 

 USOA, and economic assistance programs under A.I.D. It is very 

 difficult for a company, such as Land O'Lakes, to get our USDA and 

 A.I.D. officials to work together so that there is a package of 

 surplus commodities and development dollars in the same project. 

 We suggest a requirement that future donations of commodities to 

 Russia should be accompanied by either foreign assistance dollars 

 or drawn downs on CCC funds. 



5. Finally, we recommend that USDA should encourage the use of 

 brand names in providing commodity assistance in order to build 

 U.S. markets for American agribusinesses. For example, most 

 Russians think that U.S. surplus butter comes from New Zealand. We 

 suggest a cooperative program with companies, such as Land O'Lakes, 

 in which U.S. surplus commodities would be provided in consumer 

 packaged sizes with U.S. brands. Alternatively, we suggest that 

 labels can promote the sales of U.S. Russian private joint venture 

 partners such as in our proposed 416 monetization project. In that 

 way, we could help Russian companies with packaging and labelling 

 and strengthen lasting business ties. 



Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in these 

 important hearings. 



Professional Background of Martha Cashman 



Since September 1, 1987, Martha Cashman has advanced rapidly to 

 become Vice President for International Development Operations, 

 Land O'Lakes. In this capacity, she has greatly expanded Land 

 O'Lakes' development programs throughout Central and Eastern 

 Europe. In Russia, she has taken particular leadership in 

 developing strong personal and professional relationships with 

 senior private agricultural leaders. Through frequent visits to 

 the field, she has gained a broad hands-on knowledge of the types 

 and scope of technical assistance and training needs to support 

 feunily farming in Russia. 



Prior to joining Land O'Lakes, Cashman was a P.L. 480 Food for 

 Peace Coordinator in Jamaica C1985-86) and The Gambia (1983-84) 

 with specialized knowledge in the use for surplus U.S. food 

 assistance particularly through its "monetization." She has had a 

 variety of positions within national and regional cooperative 

 organizations. She holds a Masters of Agriculture and Bachelors in 

 Elective Studies in public policy analysis from the University of 

 Minnesota . 



