More than 150 recipients of the Nobel and World Food prizes released an open letter Tuesday calling for a dramatic increase in research and a commitment to new food distribution efforts with a goal of producing more crops and avoiding a global hunger crisis in coming decades.

The letter notes that an estimated 700 million people now are 'food insecure and desperately poor'

More than 150 recipients of the Nobel and World Food prizes have released an open letter calling for a dramatic increase in research and a commitment to new food distribution efforts.