China Cares a Whole Lot About Pigs in Iowa
On the bank of the Des Moines River in downtown Des Moines sits the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates. The brainchild of Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, the $250,000 annual World Food Prize recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to global food security. For the most part, the building’s walls are decorated with portraits of agricultural researchers who helped to end world hunger—people like Mexican biochemist Evangelina Villegas Moreno and Indian geneticist Surinder Vasal, who together developed high-protein maize. But there is one notable exception. In the hall’s ballroom hangs a bronze plaque commemorating a 2012 visit by Xi Jinping, the president of China. Xi’s big contribution: His visit to Iowa ushered in the signing of a U.S.-China pledge to cooperate in agricultural research and business. for that year.
