Borlaug book now available to all schools

Every high school library in Iowa is getting a book about an Iowa native who won the Nobel Peace Price in 1970. Cresco native Norman Borlaug won the prestigious award for developing higher-yielding wheat. Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack has read a bit of the book. She says she discovered the “power of one” by reading the book. She calls it the power of one person to make a difference in the world.Mrs. Vilsack says Borlaug’s life is dedicated to feeding the world and that should be inspiring to Iowa’s youth.Borlaug, who is 85, is in Des Moines for a conference sponsored by the World Food Prize Foundation. Yesterday, Borlaug recalled his trip to Ghana where he saw a child die from malnutrition. He said it made him angry.Dignitaries from several other countries are in Iowa to attend the two-day World Food Prize events, including He Kang, former Minister of Agriculture in China. Kang says Borlaug’s pioneering research helped increase yields and incomes for farmers around the globe.Eleven previous winners of the World Food Prize are also in Iowa for the conference.