Iowa Hunger Summit

The World Food Prize International Symposium features a panel session on hunger in Iowa and across America with the leaders of Bread for the World, America’s Second Harvest and MAZON, the Jewish Response to Hunger. 

World Food Prize Laureate, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan remarks to Ambassador Quinn that, “I did not know that there was hunger in America.” The idea for the Iowa Hunger Summit was planted.

At World Food Prize President Ambassador Kenneth Quinn’s initiative, Governor Tom Vilsack and former Governor Robert D. Ray and Terry E. Branstad authored an article in the Des Moines Register calling for the establishment of an Iowa Hunger Summit and committed themselves to serving as Honorary Founding Co-Chairs. 

The World Food Prize announces the establishment of The Iowa Hunger Summit.

October 16, 2007: The first annual Iowa Hunger Summit is held with Dr. Norman Borlaug being honored with a proclamation by new Governor Chet Culver and the participation of former Governor Ray, Branstad and Vilsack. 

Future World Food Prize Laureate David Beckmann delivers the keynote address.

The World Food Prize releases the numbers on monetary donations, food collection and volunteer hours devoted by Iowans to battling hunger in Iowa and abroad.

October 14, 2008: The second annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Discussions include the impact of hunger on children and efforts to reduce hunger and improve nutrition for children and families.

Total numbers of monetary donations, food collections and volunteer hours committed to battling hunger show an increase over the 2006-07 numbers.

October 13, 2009: The third annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Feeding America President & CEO Vicki Escarra delivers the keynote address.

The USDA holds a special listening session seeking ideas to accomplish President Obama’s pledge to end hunger among U.S. children by 2015.

October 12, 2010: The fourth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Ambassador Tony Hall, director of the Alliance to End Hunger, addresses attendees as the keynote speaker.

The numbers for monetary donations, food collections and volunteer hours to fight hunger reach the highest recorded numbers.

October 11, 2011: The fifth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Mr. Tom Arnold from Ireland, CEO of Concern Worldwide, delivers the keynote address.

Iowa’s contributions to the global fight against hunger reached a record $12.1 million between October 2011 and October 2011.

October 16, 2012: The sixth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Howard Buffett, President of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and Jo Ann Jenkins, President of the AARP Foundation deliver keynote addresses

Ambassador Quinn, President of The World Food Prize Foundation announces the launch of the Iowa Hunger Directory, a new comprehensive platform for engaging organizations and individuals across Iowa in the fight against hunger

October 15, 2013: The seventh annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, OBE, founder and CEO, Mary’s Meals in Scotland, delivers the keynote address

Ambassador Quinn, President of The World Food Prize Foundation, awards the inaugural Robert D. Ray Iowa SHARES Humanitarian Award to Lucille Morgan Wilson, outgoing organizer of the Des Moines Area Hunger Hike

Over 400 Iowans package meals at the Iowa Hunger Fight, presented by DuPont Pioneer and Meals from the Heartland

October 14, 2014: The eighth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Bishop Richard E. Pates and Mr. Dennis Dimick, Executive Editor of National Geographic, deliver keynote addresses

The Robert D. Ray Iowa SHARES Award is presented to Merry Fredrick, former Executive Director of Self-Help International

October 13, 2015: The ninth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

The launch of the Vote to End Hunger Campaign is organized by Bread for the World

Mr. Raymond Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America, delivers Keynote Address – Beyond Seeds, Soil, and Tractors: Empowering a Food Secure World

Reverend Russ Melby, a long-time Iowa organizer of Church World Service CROP Hunger Walks, is presented the Robert D. Ray Iowa SHARES Award

October 10, 2016: The tenth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Roger Thurow, Senior Fellow for Global Agriculture and Food Policy, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and author of The First 1,000 Days: A Critical Time for Mothers and Children – And The World, addresses attendees as the Keynote Speaker

Governor Terry Branstad and Ambassador Quinn, President of The World Food Prize Foundation, presented the Robert D. Ray Iowa SHARES Award to Reverend Joan Fumetti and Ron De Weerd for their leadership role in building the Iowa Foods Resource Bank program

October 16, 2017: The eleventh annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by The World Food Prize Foundation

Diana Aviv, Chief Executive Officer for Feeding America, delivers the keynote address

Governor Kim Reynolds reads the official proclamation declaring October 16th as Norman E. Borlaug/World Food Prize Day in Iowa

5 former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture (Tom Vilsack, Dan Glickman, Ann Veneman, Mike Johanns, and Ed Schafer)  discuss topics relating to domestic food security, including SNAP an nutrition, showcasing the strength of bipartisan discussion

The Robert D. Ray Iowa SHARES Award is presented to The Most Reverend Bishop Richard E. Pates for his leadership in confronting hunger at home and abroad and building international understanding as Chairman of the Committee on International Justice & Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

October 15, 2018: Twelfth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation

Governor Kim Reynolds signs the official proclamation declaring October 16th as Norman Borlaug Day/World Food Prize day in Iowa

In 2018 the Iowa SHARES award celebrated its 5th anniversary by honoring 15 individuals and organizations. The award was given to those who, following the late Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray’s inspired humanitarian leadership, made Iowa SHARES into a statewide campaign that delivered lifesaving food, medicine and volunteer doctors and nurses to the Cambodian border of Thailand where thousands of victims of the Khmer Rouge Genocide had escaped. Over a two-year period beginning in 1979, approximately $550,000 was raised from small contributions from thousands of Iowans across the state, which would be the equivalent of approximately $2 million in 2018.

October 15, 2019: Thirteenth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation

Governor Kim Reynolds signed the official proclamation declaring October 16th as Norman Borlaug Day/World Food Prize day in Iowa

The Iowa SHARES Award was extended to R.W. and Mary Nelson, founders of Kemin Industries for their profound humanitarian commitment as manifested in their outreach to remote parts of distant countries to alleviate the suffering of villagers and help rebuild communities affected by devastating natural disasters as well as their many works of charity and assistance closer to home. 

Chief Executive Officer of Feeding America, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, joined with all 6 of Iowa’s Feeding America Food Bank leaders and 

Suzanne Clark, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, provided the keynote remarks for the Hunger Luncheon

October 19-21, 2020: Fourteenth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation

Governor Kim Reynolds signed the official proclamation declaring October 16th as Norman Borlaug Day/World Food Prize day in Iowa

The three-day event featured conversations on the importance of racial equity within our food system and address the effects and long-term outcomes of COVID-19 on vulnerable and under-resourced populations.

September 1, 2021: Fifteenth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation

The virtual event addressed transformations within our food systems and the changes needed to end hunger and food insecurity in our state.

September 1, 2022: Sixteenth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation

The Summit’s theme, Our Paths to Zero, focused on charting a course to overcoming hunger with a focus on our collective health.

September 1, 2021: Fifteenth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation

The virtual event addressed transformations within our food systems and the changes needed to end hunger and food insecurity in our state.

September 7, 2023: Seventeenth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation

The day-long event focused on the two-year theme of Our Paths to Zero, continuing to zero in on ways that different organizations can commit to and plan for significantly reducing hunger and diet-related diseases in Iowa. 

Ambassador Terry Branstad and Governor Kim Reynolds, President of The World Food Prize Foundation and Governor of the State of Iowa, respectively, presented the Robert D. Ray Iowa SHARES Award to Simon Estes for humanitarian commitment to creating “peace through music” and elevating the voices of impoverished youth in Iowa and across the globe.

July 31, 2024: Eighteenth annual Iowa Hunger Summit is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation. Over 400 Iowans registered from 75 counties and more than 200 organizations were present.

The day-long event focused on the theme: Seeds of Nourishment: Elevating Iowa’s Food Systems. The event spotlighted each sector of the food supply chain, highlighting both the challenges and innovative solutions for cultivating improved food security

Ambassador Terry Branstad and Governor Kim Reynolds, President of The World Food Prize Foundation and Governor of the State of Iowa, respectively, presented the Robert D. Ray Iowa SHARES Award to Dr. Jim Blessman of Blessman International for his decades-long commitment to nourishing vulnerable populations in Southern Africa through his Iowa-based non-profit organization.

The Iowa Hunger Summit Luncheon highlighted the importance of local and nutritious food served in K-12 schools, celebrating the Iowa Local Food for Schools Program, which allows Iowa Schools to purchase locally grown food to nourish Iowa students.