Norman Borlaug’s Green Revolution Saved Millions Scripture tells us that we are all sinners—even the saints. Apparently, according to PBS, Borlaug’s sin is that he saved too many lives.
Regarding your editorial “Battering Norman Borlaug” (April 25): Shortly after becoming the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, I was made aware that desperate, starving people in Zambia had broken into a convoy of trucks carrying U.S.-donated sacks of food out of their country. I was dumbfounded, and found a Jesuit missionary in Zambia to speak with about this unbelievable occurrence. He said: “Yes, ambassador, that cable was correct—that food was a product of GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds, and if they allow it into Zambia the people here will want to grow it, and they would never after be able to export food to Europe.”
I couldn’t accept that food technology was being used to deny food to starving people. This led me to Dr. Borlaug. I arranged a conference and many meetings in Rome for this man to explain the wonders of new food technology and its promise to thwart the curse of starvation and malnutrition in Africa. This was in 2002 and people there were dying at the rate of 25,000 a day.
The controversy over GMO food persists today, although there is still no proof that it causes anyone ill effects. The credibility of Dr. Borlaug in Rome convinced the Holy Father to task the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on the question of GMO food. After exhaustive research, the Academy of Sciences reported to the pope that they found no harmful effects to people who ate GMO food, and that it offered great promise to end world food shortages.
One senior member of the Roman Curia, who came to know Dr. Borlaug through this experience (he came to Rome twice at my request, at his own expense), said, “This man is a saint!”
Scripture tells us that we are all sinners—even the saints. Apparently, according to PBS, Borlaug’s sin is that he saved too many lives.
May he rest in peace.
R. James Nicholson
Washington
Mr. Nicholson was ambassador to the Holy See 2001-05.
We had the pleasure of meeting Norman Borlaug and filming his receipt of the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007, which led to the production of a one-hour PBS documentary about his life and work.
Borlaug saw the famine conditions in several parts of the world as a human emergency and knew very well that his high-yield strains of wheat and accompanying farming methods were only buying time. But poor farmers all over the world were very quick to adopt his hybrid seeds and farming strategies when they saw the results, and this kind of transformation continues in Africa and many other places to this day. Before his death, Borlaug was very active in helping smallholder growers vastly improve their lives through modern seeds and growing methods. Your editorial is spot on.
Philip Courter
Crystal River, Fla.
I heard Borlaug give a speech late in his career where he addressed criticism of his work. His position was simple—he had met many, many well-meaning (and well-fed) critics over the years, but had never met any willing to starve to death for their beliefs.
Joe Bouton
Athens, Ga.
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