The World Food Prize Hall of Laureates is a small but earnest museum about the people working on global hunger, housed in a beautifully restored 1900 public library overlooking the Des Moines River. The marble interior is more impressive than the exhibits themselves; the upper galleries cover the laureates and their work, while the ground floor has rotating shows and a cafe with river views.
Admission is free. The building is at its best on a quiet weekday morning, when you can wander the rotunda and the painted ceiling murals largely alone. The Hall sits right next to Principal Riverwalk, so it pairs naturally with a walk along the river to the East Village.