World Food Prize Lecture Continues At George Daily
James North (left) introduces Dr. Howarth Bouis (right) for the Annual World Food Prize lecture at George Daily Auditorium.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – William Penn University invited everyone to take part in the annual World Food Prize Lecture this past Wednesday. The lecture is part of the annual World Food Prize Month, and this year featured Dr. Howarth Bouis.
Dr. Bouis is the Founder and Director of the HarvestPlus Program which is coordinated by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). He began his work in the mid-1980s at the International Food and Policy Research Institute in Washington D.C. From there, Bouis’ interests shifted onto the diets of poor households and nutritional outcomes in Asia. He then created HarvestPlus in 2003 to improve nutrition and public health through the crop bio-fortification process. HarvestPlus is dedicated to promoting nutrient, health, and livelihoods by enriching staple food crops with micronutrients through that process.
James North, a professor with William Penn University has been a part of the lecture series since its inception. “William Penn has teamed up with the World Food Prize Organization and brought a speaker here to Oskaloosa so that students, the community, everybody has an opportunity to meet with somebody who has done some great things in their life.”
That first year, North’s jaw dropped to the floor when he found out who the speaker was going to be. It was Norman Borlaug, who was a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1970. Borlaug was an agricultural scientist who was honored for “his contributions to the ‘green revolution’ that was having an impact on food production, particularly in Asia and Latin America.”
According to North, Borlaug spent his summers in Beacon, Iowa, which made it even more special to have him speak in Oskaloosa.
“Every year since then has been really interesting,” said North of the ongoing series. “We’ve had some really wonderful speakers.”
