DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) 鈥� A California peace activist who has worked to remove land mines from war-torn regions and replace them with grape vines, fruit trees and vegetables was named the 2023 World Food Prize laureate Thursday at a ceremony in Washington.
The Des Moines, Iowa-based foundation awarded its to Heidi K眉hn, founder of Roots of Peace. Since founding her nonprofit in the basement of her San Rafael, California, home in 1997, K眉hn鈥檚 organization has helped remove thousands of mines and assist farmers in more than a half-dozen countries. The group recently signed an initial agreement to .
K眉hn, 65, said she formed the idea of starting her group after hosting an event at her home for dignitaries advocating for the eradication of land mines.
鈥淟ooking back on it, perhaps it was a vision of turning blood into wine, killing fields into vineyards and hatred into love,鈥� K眉hn said in an interview last week.
K眉hn was named the winner of the prize, which carries a $250,000 award, at an event featuring Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Terry Branstad, the World Food Prize Foundation president and former U.S. ambassador to China. K眉hn, who was visiting minefields in Azerbaijan when the award was announced, will be formally given the prize at an event in October in Des Moines.
鈥淗er work shows the world the vital role that agriculture must have in the resilient recovery from conflict to restoration of peace," Branstad said during the announcement. "For making her mission to turn mines to vines, I am so pleased to announce that the 2023 World Food Prize laureate is Heidi K眉hn.鈥�
K眉hn said she created her nonprofit after becoming sick with cancer at age 30 while heading a TV production company and raising three children, ages 1, 3 and 5.
鈥淢y little prayer was, 鈥楧ear God, grant me the gift of life and I will do something special with it,鈥欌�� said K眉hn, who survived the cancer and had another child.
After learning about the world鈥檚 estimated 60 million land mines, and in part inspired by the explosives, K眉hn said she met with vintners in California鈥檚 Napa Valley and began a fledgling effort that has steadily grown over the decades.
Roots of Peace started in Croatia and then went on to establish programs in Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Israel, Iraq, Palestinian areas, and Vietnam.
Besides lining up crews to remove mines, Roots of Peace completes market assessments to help determine how farmers can make a living off the newly cleared land. In Vietnam, for example, the group helped plant more than a million pepper trees that resulted in a harvest of high-grade pepper that is now sent to the U.S.
While her organization has become established with funding from a variety of government and private sources, K眉hn said, her transition from raising four young children to heading an international mine-clearing organization still can seem strange, even to her.
鈥淚t is rather bizarre to be raising four kids, and then their mother is going off to a mind field," K眉hn said. "It is unusual.鈥�
Norman Borlaug, an Iowa native who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work to alleviate hunger through wheat research and other efforts, established the World Food Prize in 1986. The award has been given to 52 people in honor of their achievements in improving the quality, quantity and availability of the world鈥檚 food supply.
Scott Mcfetridge, The Associated Press
