Heidi Kühn, the founder of Roots of Peace, a California-based nonprofit, has been named the winner of the 2023 World Food Prize. Kühn was awarded $250,000 for her efforts to grow grapevines, fruit trees, and vegetables after clearing landmines in war-torn areas. The Des Moines, Iowa-based foundation announced the winner at an event in Washington, D.C. which featured Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Terry Branstad, the World Food Prize Foundation’s president and former US ambassador to China.
Kühn, 65, formed Roots of Peace in 1997 in her San Rafael, California home. Since then, she has been instrumental in removing thousands of mines and assisted farmers in more than seven countries, with a recent agreement signed to begin work in Ukraine. She was inspired after holding a landmine-eradication event for dignitaries. Kühn stated in a recent interview, “Looking back on it, perhaps it was a vision of turning blood into wine, killing fields into vineyards, and hatred into love.”
Roots of Peace has successfully established programs to assist farmers in Croatia, Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Israel, Iraq, Palestinian areas, and Vietnam. In addition to setting up mine removal crews, the organization also performs market analysis to gauge whether farmers can make a living on the cleared land. Notably, Kühn’s nonprofit helped plant over a million pepper trees in Vietnam, which produced a harvest of high-grade pepper.
Kühn’s organization has received funding from various government and private sources, and the award from the World Food Prize will further lend credibility to the nonprofit. The Nobel laureate admitted that she found it strange to go from being a stay-at-home mom of four to the head of an international mine-clearing group. She credits her journey to her survival through cancer at the age of 30, recalling her prayer, “Dear God, grant me the gift of life, and I will do something special with it.”
Established in 1986 by Iowa native Norman Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, the World Food Prize recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary achievements in improving the quality, quantity, and availability of the world’s food supply. To date, 52 individuals have received the award in honoring their contributions to this cause. In October, a ceremony will be held in Des Moines to present Kühn with her prize.
