{"id":10454,"date":"2024-07-09T22:24:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T03:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whia.us\/10454\/"},"modified":"2023-05-13T22:44:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-14T03:44:22","slug":"%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%85%d8%ad%d9%86%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d8%b1%d8%b6-%d8%aa%d8%b5%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%84%d8%ba%d8%a7%d9%85-%d8%b9%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%8b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/10454\/","title":{"rendered":"World Food Prize laureate turns \u2018mines to vines\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Lenore T. Adkins<\/a><\/strong><\/h1>\n

Share America- WHIA<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Heidi K\u00fchn walked through her first minefield, in Dragali\u0107, Croatia, in 2000. Workers there asked her blood type in case she stepped on a land mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was such a defining moment,\u201d K\u00fchn said. \u201cI was with a friend and we looked at each other in the eye and we were like, \u2018What have we gotten ourselves into?\u2019 And they suited me up.\u201d<\/p>\n

K\u00fchn, a California native, has earned international recognition for\u00a0Roots of Peace<\/a>, the nonprofit she founded in 1997 that transforms heavily mined areas into sustainable farmland. Or as K\u00fchn puts it, she\u2019s turning mines to vines.<\/p>\n

On May 11, K\u00fchn received the\u00a0World Food Prize<\/a>, an international honor that recognizes individuals who help advance food quality and quantity around the world.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot
Heidi K\u00fchn (Courtesy of Heidi Kuhn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just humbled and honored, and I still think I\u2019m in a dream,\u201d K\u00fchn said. \u201cAs a mother, to be able to serve as an American to heal the wounds of war, it is my great honor to accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roots of Peace partners with mine removal groups around the world, including the Croatian Mine Action Centre, HALO Trust and Mines Advisory Group, to remove munitions.<\/p>\n

Once that\u2019s done, the group goes in with shovels and trains rural farmers to grow and sell high-value crops.<\/p>\n

USAID and the U.N. Development Programme have given financial aid to Roots of Peace projects.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit has facilitated the removal of more than 100,000 land mines and pieces of\u00a0unexploded ordnance<\/a>\u00a0around the world. The farmland made possible by the cleared explosives has given food security to locals in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, Guatemala, Iraq and Vietnam.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit has helped export to international markets nearly 160,000 metric tons of fruits, nuts and spices valued at more than $350 million, supporting more than 1 million farmers and families.<\/p>\n

K\u00fchn remembers feeling elated after detonating her first land mine in Croatia, but those feelings gave way to sorrow because there were still so many left. She wants now to\u00a0turn her attention to Ukraine<\/a>, where the BBC estimates there are land mines over 174,000 square kilometers. It\u2019s a section of land bigger than England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.<\/p>\n

\"Afghan
Afghan women farmers examine grapes growing on the vine. (\u00a9 Roots of Peace)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe earth forgives us, the earth is bountiful, we\u2019re feeding children,\u201d K\u00fchn said. \u201cI can go to sleep at night and know there\u2019s families I may never meet but through our efforts and our footsteps, we\u2019ve had an impact on their day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The earth forgives us, the earth is bountiful<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[142,128,144],"tags":[],"series":[1027],"coauthors":[238],"class_list":["post-10454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-most-important-topics-en","category-updates-en","category-arab-women-of-influence-en","series-whia-synergy"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/whia.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/\u0647\u0627\u064a\u062f\u064a-e1684034579687.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/whia.us\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/feed\/podcast\/whia-synergy","embedCode":"

World Food Prize laureate turns \u2018mines to vines\u2019<\/a><\/blockquote>