Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash

Billions of people owe him thanks. Hardly any have heard of him.

He worked patiently, tirelessly, in dirt and grime, unknown to almost everyone. But he’s one of the most important people who’ve ever lived.

Of models I hope my grandkids will follow, he’s among the top. Not that they’d do the same kind of work, but that they’d cultivate the same self-discipline, the same determination to serve others, the same humility.

In the United States, he won the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977), the Congressional Gold Medal (America’s highest civilian award, 2007), the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (2002), the National Medal of Science (2005).

He was awarded India’s highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibushan (2006), and in 1970 he won the Nobel Peace Prize. And the list of his awards goes on and on.

Who was he? Norman Borlaug (1914–2009), “Father of the Green Revolution,” “The Man Who Fed the World,” the Iowa farm boy whose dogged determination led to his development of wheat and other crops with higher yields, lower vulnerability to diseases, and more efficient use of water and minerals.

Those crops, and those developed by other agronomists who followed in his footsteps, using Norman Borlaug’s methods, multiplied food production around the world ten times over, ending famine (except when caused by governments) and allowing nearly 4 times as many people—8 billion instead of 2.3 billion—to have more and better food than their ancestors had 80 years earlier.

This is why the Cornwall Alliance, dedicated in part to economic development for the world’s poor, celebrates his birthday, March 25, every year as our Day of Prayer for the Environment and the Poor. And it’s why, this year, as our way of saying “Thank you!” when you make a 100 percent tax-deductible donation of any size by the end of March and ask for it, we’re eager to send you a FREE copy of Hero for the Hungry: The Life & Work of Norman Borlaug.

It’s perfect for young readers, and we hope you’ll pass it on to them, to inspire them to follow in his footsteps. But enjoy it yourself first. It’s an amazing book! To request your copy, donate online at www.CornwallAlliance.org/donate, or mail your check to Cornwall Alliance, 875 W. Poplar Ave., Suite 23-284, Collierville, TN 38017, or call us at 423-500-3009, by the end of March, and in any case, be sure to mention “Promo Code 23-03” or Hero for the Hungry.

Photo by Paz Arando on Unsplash.