The Green Revolution’s Guru

Posted on July 17th, 2007 by Carlos

The gentleman on the right is Norman Borlaug, and he has just been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for being one of the principle architects of the “Green Revolution.” It’s not exactly the kind of “Green” you’re thinking; it specifically has to do with fighting hunger, not generic environmentalism. His work on improving wheat yields in the 40s and 50s has literally saved hundreds of millions of people from hunger. Here is a quote from The DesMoines Register that speaks volumes:

Borlaug noted in a statement he wrote for the gold medal ceremony that in 1960 perhaps 60 percent of the world’s people felt hunger during some portion of the year. By the year 2000, that had dropped to 14 percent.

Wow. If ever someone deserved a medal, it’s this guy. And this time, the world has gotten it right: besides the Congressional Gold Medal, Borlaug has won the Nobel Prize and The Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Read the whole story here.