Norman Borlaug

Ever heard of him? I'd dare say that most have not. He didn't exactly relish the limelight, although he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Norman Borlaug was the "Father of the Green Revolution". There are some who now say that the green revolution was the impetus for the agricultural disasters that we face today...hum, I'd hate to say that there was one cause for such a complex situation. What I know for sure is that Norman was a man who believed that everyone had a right to eat. To be fed. To raise their children and have a chance at life.

During his lifetime, there were people who didn't feel the same way.

Ever read Malthus? The Malthusian theory stated that population growth would spiral out of control and that eventually there wouldn't be enough food to feed everyone on the planet. That's the part that most people know, the other part is that if you happen to be in an country that has fallen on famish times, then it would be better for the rest of us if you just passed on to the next life. Ultimately, leaving enough food for the rest of us who just happen to have a currently better circumstance.

The theory was heavily on the minds of people in the 1960s. People were waking up to the state of the environment in the United States and really looking at how food was going to be grown on a global scale. There were massive famines in South America, Southeast Asia and throughout Russia. Norman went to work to hybridize plants that grew in critical environments. He was a brilliant plant geneticist. He worked in the fields with the day laborers. He loved the people. He paid for some of those day laborers to go to college, and eventually they became incredible plant scientists and agronomists. By some accounts, he saved nearly 1 billion people from starvation.

I've heard him speak about his experiences. I believe that he did what needed to be done. For better or for worse, he made a difference to people in countries with a very small voice. As a mother, there isn't anything that you won't do for your child--and I am grateful that other mothers were spared the anguish of watching their children starve because of his lifelong dedication to making it so.

He died on Sunday.

May he rest in peace....or at least in a giant field of corn.
More of his story can be read here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090913/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_borlaug