The man who saved more human lives than any other person in all of history, Norman Borlaug, turns 90 tomorrow. Borlaug, the father of the "Green Revolution" headed up the team of researchers that created the high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice which prevented the global famines widely predicted to occur in the 1970s and 1980s. Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 1970.
Borlaug continues his work today as head of the Sasakawa Africa Association, which is working to bring a new "Green Revolution" to the poor farmers of Africa.
How real the predictions and the threat were is somewhat debatable (and discussed in the comments of the thread linked). But certainly his work in improving the global food supply is highly laudable. Best wishes to Mr. Borlaug
Reason interviewed Borlaug a few years back, the interview can be found here.
Me and Xouquoa were talking about Borlaug a couple of months ago. He really is one of America's greatest people of all time. Too bad the line of work he is in isn't sexy enough to get him any real recognition. It's also a damn shame that politics and crappy environmentalists have kept him from saving even more lives and teaching more regions how to better feed their population.
That interview from a few years back was a great read. I never looked too heavily into agriculture / organics / biotech (in terms of genetic foods)... It really dispelled a lot of the things I had been hearing about genetically modified foods and how we could better support 3rd world nations through agricultural assistance rather than "aid packages" of millions or billions of dollars of cash.
kyoukan wrote:Me and Xouquoa were talking about Borlaug a couple of months ago.
prove it!
and wheat germ is sexy if used correctly
We were, and then I saw him on Pen and Teller's Bullshit! in an interview and I was, 'hayyyy that's the dude I was talkin to kyoukan about a couple months ago!'
it was cool, and he's a cool guy.
"Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings." - John F Kennedy
