Gwynn Garnett (December 26, 1909 to November 21, 1995) was the administrator of the

Foreign Agricultural Service The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is the foreign affairs agency with primary responsibility for the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) overseas programs – market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, ...

(FAS) of the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

from 1955 to 1959. He also wrote the first draft of what would become the

Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 The Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (, enacted July 10, 1954) is a United States federal law that established Food for Peace, the primary and first permanent US organization for food assistance to foreign nations. The Act ...

(Public Law 480) that would become known as the

Food for Peace In different administrative and organizational forms, the Food for Peace program of the United States has provided food assistance around the world for more than 60 years. Approximately 3 billion people in 150 countries have benefited directly fro ...

program.

Early life

Garnett was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to Robert Tompkins Garnett and his wife Edith (Higgenbotham) then raised on a farm in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. He had four siblings which included brothers Robert and Cyrus. He graduated from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in 1934 where he was the president of the

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...

fraternity chapter and the

Y.M.C.A. YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

, as well as a member of

Scabbard and Blade Scabbard and Blade (S&B) is a college military honor society founded at the University of Wisconsin in 1904. Although membership is open to Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) cadets and midshipmen of all military services, the society is mod ...

. In 1936 he married Marjorie Maree Shannon of Clinton, Iowa. They would stay married until he died and had two children, Stephen and Patience.

Early career

During the 1930s, Garnett was a statistician for the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

and the

Federal Land Bank The Farm Credit System (FCS) in the United States is a nationwide network of borrower-owned lending institutions and specialized service organizations. The Farm Credit System provides more than $304 billion in loans, leases, and related services t ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he commanded a tank company as a captain in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in Europe. After the war he was named director of the Food and Agriculture Division of the U.S. Military Government in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He was also involved with overseeing the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...

. He also helped initiate parts of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

until his discharge. He then became a legislative liaison for the

American Farm Bureau Federation The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), also known as Farm Bureau Insurance and Farm Bureau Inc. but more commonly just the Farm Bureau (FB), is a United States-based insurance company and lobbying group that represents the American agri ...

Food for Peace

Upon returning from a trip to India in 1950 Garnett wrote the first draft of what would become Public Law 480. This plan was for the United States to sell surplus agricultural commodities to countries still recovering from World War II. The sales would be made in the local currencies which were pretty much worthless outside of the borders of the countries where the sale was made. The money would then be used by the United States to fund economic development projects in those countries. The plan was popular in Congress since it helped American farmers, fed hungry nations, and fostered future markets. This plan was signed into law in 1954 while Garnett was the director of the surplus disposal group of the FAS. He was then promoted to director of the FAS and served there from 1954 to 1959.

Later career

Garnett left the government in 1959 to become vice president of the

Pan-Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

Airways. Later he formed a company that made agricultural equipment for underdeveloped countries and had interests in cattle operations in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. During the 1970s and 1980s, Garnett (and his son, Stephen) was one of the first American farmers to start promoting organic beef from his farm in

Remington, Virginia Remington is a small incorporated town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States. The population was 598 at the 2010 census. It is near the highways, U.S. Route 15, U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 29, and Virginia State Route 28. Remington is less th ...

. After passing away, Garnett was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garnett, Gwynn American civil servants American businesspeople 1909 births 1995 deaths Iowa State University alumni People from Chicago United States Army personnel of World War II Eisenhower administration personnel United States Army officers