Norman Borlaug Has Died

A Nobel Prize agronomist has died.  Norman Borlaug has been described by many as the father of the green revolution.  Whether he is or isn't, my first exposure to Norman Borlaug was a 2000 interview in Reason magazine. 

I particularly remember this exchange:

REASON: What do you think of organic farming? A lot of people claim it’s better for human health and the environment.
BORLAUG: That’s ridiculous. This shouldn’t even be a debate. Even if you could use all the organic material that you have—the animal manures, the human waste, the plant residues—and get them back on the soil, you couldn’t feed more than 4 billion people. In addition, if all agriculture were organic, you would have to increase cropland area dramatically, spreading out into marginal areas and cutting down millions of acres of forests…If people want to believe that the organic food has better nutritive value, it’s up to them to make that foolish decision. But there’s absolutely no research that shows that organic foods provide better nutrition. As far as plants are concerned, they can’t tell whether that nitrate ion comes from artificial chemicals or from decomposed organic matter. If some consumers believe that it’s better from the point of view of their health to have organic food, God bless them. Let them buy it. Let them pay a bit more. It’s a free society. But don’t tell the world that we can feed the present population without chemical fertilizer. That’s when this misinformation becomes destructive.