"Civilization as we know it could not have evolved, nor can it survive, without an adequate food supply."But not to worry:
"Given the right tools, farmers have shown an uncanny ability to feed themselves and others, and to ignite the economic engine that will reverse the cycle of chronic poverty."(I might add that in addition to the right tools, farmers also need the right incentives. Like everyone else, farmers do not relish working for nothing.)
Norman Borlaug is called by some the father of the Green Revolution of the 1960s, and credited by some with saving a billion lives. According to Wikipedia, he is one of only five people in history to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1970) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (by President Gerald Ford) and the Congressional Gold Medal (2007).
In 2000 the Nobel Institute invited Dr. Borlaug to give a special 30th Anniversary Lecture. This speech is long but interesting if you care about feeding the world.
Gregg Easterbrook wrote a long column about Dr. Borlaug in The Atlantic Monthly in 1997: Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity.
UPDATE: Dr. Borlaug died on 9/12/09 at the age of 95. NYT obituary. WSJ column by Gregg Easterbrook.
