(Radio Iowa) – Two former Iowa governors are meeting for lunch today (Wednesday) to discuss the past and the future of the Des Moines-based World Food Prize. Democrat Tom Vilsack, who served two terms as Iowa’s governor, will become the organization’s C-E-O on March 1st. Republican Terry Branstad, elected to six terms as governor, has been president of the World Food Prize Foundation for the past two years. Branstad also served as U-S Ambassador to China and he says the foundation has made a good choice.

“I’m really excited about another former governor, somebody that understand agriculture,” Branstad said. Vilsack served 12 years as U-S Secretary of Agriculture during the Obama and Biden Administrations. Branstad served as U-S Ambassador to China during the Trump Administration and he says Vilsack’s international connections will be invaluable. Branstad says he and Vilsack have worked together on a number of projects and issues and he’s ready to pass the baton to Vilsack.

“He’s been a great supporter of the World Food Prize,” Branstad says, “and the thing I like about it from the very git go, we’ve had broadbased bipartisan support.” The Iowa legislature annually provides some funding for the World Food Prize, which hosts a symposium each October in Des Moines that draws dignitaries as well as reearchers and ag industry experts from around the globe. The World Food Prize is mainly supported, though, by donations by individuals, corporations and other foundations. Each year a World Food Prize laureate is recognized — and awarded a half a million dollar prize.