(Radio Iowa) – A humanitarian and food safety expert from the Netherlands is being named the winner of the 2026 Des Moines-based World Food Prize. Huub Lelieveld is being recognized for leading a global food safety movement that prevented millions of cases of foodborne illness, dismantled barriers to trade and humanitarian aid, and reduced food loss and waste.
Mashal Husain, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, named Lelieveld in a New York City ceremony this (Wednesday) morning. Husain says, “Like Norman Borlaug, he chose to step forward, to fight for safety, for fairness, for every table where a child, a family, a community waits for their next meal.”
The World Food Prize was the dream of Iowa native Norman Borlaug, the Cresco native who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his research that improved wheat yields in the developing world. Husain says Lelieveld led a movement across dozens of countries to deliver the scientific evidence for modern regulations, legislation and international standards that safeguard the world’s food supply.
“He saw a world where unsafe food threatens millions, where bureaucratic, hurdles delay life-saving aid, and where inconsistency and fear too often deny families the right to eat without worry,” Husain says, “and he decided to act.” In 2004, Lelieveld founded the Global Harmonization Initiative, or G-H-I, a global food safety organization that works to advance science-based food safety and reduce barriers to the safe distribution of food worldwide.
“He built a volunteer network spanning 113 countries, connecting thousands of scientists and policymakers and industry experts,” Husain says, “dedicated to making food safe, accessible, and reliable for everyone, everywhere.” She says Lelieveld has united scientists, industry leaders and policymakers around a commitment to safe and nutritious food for all. He’s the 57th World Food Prize Laureate and will receive a 500-thousand dollar prize.
Lelieveld is scheduled to be in Iowa later this year for the annual World Food Prize Symposium in Des Moines.
