U.S. Agriculture Secretary and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will host bilateral meetings next week with Mexico Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Victor Manual Villalobos Arambula. The meetings will occur in conjunction with the leaders’ participation in this year’s World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines. Vilsack and Villalobos Arambula are both scheduled speakers during a session scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 21. The theme of this year’s event is Gaining Momentum: Food Systems Transformation in the Decade of Action. The event will be held virtually because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s World Food Prize laureate is Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, who is known for her groundbreaking research and innovations in aquaculture. The Des Moines-based foundation each year awards the prize to honor efforts to lessen global hunger. The award was established by Iowa native Norman Borlaug, the winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to increase food production in developing nations with the use of hybrid crops.