World Food Prize Announces its 2015 Laureate

MEDIA ADVISORY

Press Contact:
Nicole Barreca, Communications and Events Coordinator
+1.515.245.3735 (direct), +1.563.271.2995 (cell), or nbarreca@wordlfoodprize.org
 

World Food Prize Announces its 2015 Laureate
U. S. Secretary of Agriculture to Give Keynote Address

Des Moines, IA ( June 26, 2015) - The 2015 winner of the prestigious $250,000 World Food Prize will be announced at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, July 1, at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Awarded by the World Food Prize Foundation, the Prize has been referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture” and is the most prominent global award recognizing an individual who has enhanced human development and confronted hunger by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin will host the World Food Prize Laureate Announcement Ceremony. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will give the keynote address and Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, president of the World Food Prize, will announce the name of the 2015 Laureate.

WHEN:

Wednesday, July 1, at 1:30 p.m. EDT/12:30 p.m. CDT.
Pre-set time for cameras is 12:45 p.m. from the C Street Entrance Lobby. Final access time for reporters and still photographers is 1:00 p.m. from the C Street Entrance Lobby.

WHERE:

U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW, Washington, D.C.
Media should enter via the 23^rd Street entrance.

RSVPs:

This event is open to the media.  
Media must present one of the following for entry: (1) a U.S. government-issued identification card (State Department, White House, Congress, Defense Department, Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identity card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by official photo identification (driver’s license or passport).

ABOUT THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE: 

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, founded the World Food Prize in 1986. Borlaug saw the Prize as a means of establishing role models who would inspire others, and since then has been awarded to outstanding individuals who have made breakthrough achievements contributing to improving the quality, quantity or availability of food throughout the world. Past winners include ex Presidents of Brazil and Ghana, John Kufour and Luis Inácio Lula Da Silva; US Senators Bob Dole and George McGovern; Grameen Bank founder Dr Muhammad Yunus; and Ex Executive Director of the World Food Programme Catherine Bertini.

Each year, the Laureate is honored at a three-day symposium in October held in Des Moines, Iowa: home of the World Food Prize Foundation. Registration for the Borlaug Dialogues will be open from July 1, 2015, at www.worldfoodprize.org/register.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Twitter: @WorldFoodPrize
Facebook: /WorldFoodPrize
Hashtag: #FoodPrize15

More information, including a biography and photos of the 2015 World Food Prize Laureate, will be available online after the announcement, at www.worldfoodprize.org/2015laureate.   

Media Inquiries for this event may be directed to:

Nicole Barreca, Communications and Events Coordinator, The World Food Prize | +1.515.245.3735 nbarreca@worldfoodprize.org

Michael R. Turner, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs | +1 (202) 647-1682 | turnermr@state.gov
Office of Press Relations, U.S. Department of State +1 (202) 647-2492.

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