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A Warning from Dr. Norman Borlaug, "Father of the Green Revolution"
By Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H.
Yesterday ACSH had a surprise visit from someone who might best be described as the person who has done more to alleviate hunger than anyone else alive today: Dr. Norman Borlaug. Known as the "Father of the Green Revolution," he received the Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work in creating a new strain of wheat and is a member of ACSH's Founders Circle.
We were happy to have a couple hours' notice on his visit, since we knew that this past weekend he celebrated his 92nd birthday -- and we had sufficient time to bring in a birthday cake and all the trimmings.
Dr. Borlaug talked of many things, including the tragedy of resistance to agricultural biotechnology in countries around the world. It was a very sobering warning, one which reinforced our long-time concern that Americans are simply too complacent about the availability of food, overconfident that in modern times there is nothing that can imperil food supplies here or anywhere else.
Dr. Borlaug spoke of his serious concern about a new strain of wheat rust, a fungus with the potential to wipe out wheat crops around the world. Its spores are carried by the wind and can be spread even by adhering to boots and other clothing. It has already been identified in areas of eastern Africa and has damaged wheat crops in Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The most immediate danger, Dr. Borlaug said, is that this new fungus will spread to the intensive wheat-growing areas of Asia. The impact that this pathogen could have on a food staple like wheat is enormous. The words "crisis" and "emergency" were part of his description of the growing threat -- unless science and technology are called upon to stop the spread of this threat by creating new resistant genotypes. Dr. Borlaug noted that any significant decline in wheat production would have a major impact on global food security.
Threats to the food supply are real -- yet we never read of them in the media. We are literally overwhelmed by reports of the "coming avian influenza pandemic," even though the disease now is largely confined to birds, and the type of mutation that could allow person-to-person transmission may or may not happen. Wheat rust epidemics have destroyed wheat supplies as far back as the days of the Roman Empire, and it is something that we must constantly be vigilant about even today. Accelerated vaccine research and production is the logical response to bird flu, but what is the wisest means of protecting the world wheat supply? Science and technology, including agricultural biotechnology, which will allow us to create genetically-modified wheat that can resist this devastating plant pathogen. How ironic that so many -- both in the developing and developed world -- resist fertilizers, pesticides, and genetic modification of food crops, celebrating "organic" food, when we are in a constant battle with nature to create sufficient food to feed the world.
Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan is president of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
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