More than 700 people from around the world are expected to attend the World Food Prize symposium that will take place Wednesday through Friday in downtown Des Moines, and more than 400 will attend the Iowa Hunger Summit Tuesday at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown.

“Depending on the session, we have upward to 700 people from across the U.S. and the world, with representatives from over 60 different countries,” said Justin Cremer, communications director. “I would say that the international (guests) outweigh the U.S. (guests), or it’s pretty close to 50-50.”

This year, Cremer said he expects the World Food Prize to gain more attention nationally because both of the 2008 World Food Prize laureates, former senators Bob Dole and George McGovern, are high-profile people who have held spotlight positions, especially during their unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency.

Usually, the Food Prize laureates are people who have a reputation inside the world of agriculture but are little known by the general public; therefore the hype isn’t as widespread as it is this year, Cremer said.

“Certainly we’ve never had someone come in already well-known like this,” Cremer said. “These are two men who are very well-known, and they haven’t gotten the attention they deserve for their collaborative leadership.”

Cremer also said that the 2008 World Food Prize ceremony has gained national attention because of the current economic crisis.

“I think there has been a little more attention to these issues, and of course the economic crisis that we are in the middle of is also going to affect access to food,” he said. “I think that the global food crisis is more at the forefront of everyone’s consciousness this year.”

Individuals interested in attending World Food Prize events may register online at www.worldfoodprize.org/iowa. Registration will close at the end of day Tuesday and is being offered at a discounted rate for Iowans at $165 per person.