Program promoting U.S.-grown foods divides California Republicans

(LATimes) - The $200-million-a-year federal program helps groups such as the California Walnut Commission promote U.S. agriculture abroad. An effort to end it has met bipartisan opposition in Congress.

In this era of federal austerity, appetites are souring over spending taxpayer money on dinner parties in India featuring California prunes, cartoons in Spain touting homegrown walnuts and billboards in South Korea extolling American beef.

Yet an effort to end a $200-million-a-year federal program that promotes U.S. agricultural products abroad has run into bipartisan opposition in Congress and has created a rare rift among Republicans in California, which receives a large chunk of the money.

At issue is a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that provided funds to about 65 groups last year, including nearly $7 million to the San Francisco-based Wine Institute, about $4.2 million to the California Walnut Commission and $2.2 million to the California Dried Plum Board. Funds also went to promote U.S.-produced candy, catfish, pet food and popcorn, among other products.

Abroad, the money paid for activities such as a campaign to encourage Japanese diners to "tweet while you eat" to enthuse about U.S. beef. The United Tastes of America — Asian Chef Challenge featured U.S.-grown ingredients.