At a special ceremony at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines last week, the World Food Prize Foundation honored the USDA and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack with the Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Medallion.

Ambassador Ken Quinn explained that the Borlaug Medallion, which was created to recognize institutions not eligible to receive the World Food Prize itself, was being presented to “honor the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its extraordinary development and promotion of American farming for over 150 years. “In the 10,000 year history of human agriculture, there is arguably no other organization that has done more to expand the knowledge of, and enhance the science involved in, food production than the USDA.”

At the ceremony, Vilsack and Quinn also signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the partnership of the World Food Prize and USDA and by extending the Wallace-Carver Fellowship program through 2021. The program was Secretary Vilsack’s vision to identify, educate and inspire the next generation of great scientific and agricultural leaders.