World Food Prize

The World Food Prize Foundation has received a $1,000,000 grant in each of the two preceding Omnibus Spending Bills (H.R. 2673 and H.R. 4818).

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From H.R. 2673:

$1,000,000 shall be awarded to the State Historical Society of Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa, for the development of exhibits for the World Food Prize...

From H.R. 4818:

$1,000,000 shall be awarded to State Historical Society of Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa, for the development of exhibits for the World Food Prize

The exact same language in each of the bills.

According to the DesMoines Register the funds allocated in H.R. 4818 are "to assist in the development of exhibits for the planned Des Moines site." No mention that the same amount was granted the year before.


The prize appears to be a fairly prestigous award. In fact, when the winners were last announced in February of 2004 Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman were on hand for the announcement.

The World Food Prize is headed-up by Kenneth Quinn, former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia.

As good as the organization may be, should we be financing it through deficit spending?

Below is the text of an email sent to Mr. Quinn requesting financial details about his foundation. If I get a response, I will post it here.

Text of email sent to Kenneth Quinn, President of World Food Prize.

Mr. Quinn:

Your organization has been granted $1,000,000 in the two preceding Omnibus Spending Bills.

This is a formal request for a copy of your financial statements detailing how these funds were or are being utilized?

Mario Delgado
Maineville, Ohio