Norm exuded an old-school charm in person, but had little truck for those with no experience of the "back-breaking" hardship of actually growing food. Even in his tenth decade, his passion was for the poor. He politely, but witheringly, disdained the indulgences of the comfortable cadre of environmentalists in the West who knew not of what they speak. (He also had sharp and pithy words about the synthetic pesticide DDT, not least in terms of the near-genocidal impact of banning it on countless millions of African malaria sufferers). He was a big hitter in a debate all too often mired in emotionalism.Read the whole thing here.
If you would honor this great, great man who at the time of his death was organizing a global effort to fight the spread of wheat rust, which threatens the food supplies of hundreds of millions of people, visit the site of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative [here] and throw a couple of bucks their way. You could find no better cause to support.
