Penn Jillette Interview with Dr Norman Borlaug [1/5]

Great man or greatest man? RIP Dr. Norman Borlaug, the man who fed a billion people (Mar 25, 1914-Sep 12, 2009). He saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.

In this interview, Penn Jillette talks with the wonderful man who spent his all-too-short life making contributions to agricultural technology, and whose efforts are estimated to be feeding a billion people today. Subjects discussed include Dr. Borlaug's contributions to raising crop yields several fold, disease resistance, Leon Hesser's book "The Man Who Fed the World", the Nobel and World Food Prizes, a good discussion about Borlaug's opinions on GM opponents (part 4), and the need for universal education.

Dr. Borlaug died September 12, 2009, aged 95.

We'll forever be in your debt.

More Information:
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug
► http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203917304574411382676924044.html
► http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8253005.stm
► http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1970/borlaug-bio.html
► http://www.manwhofedtheworld.com/home.htm
► http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Fed-World-Laureate/dp/1930754906
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Radio
► http://www.pennfans.net/

Category:

Science & Technology

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[yhertwig]

R.I.P. Norman Borlaug

[thescarlets78]

Norman Borlaug makes me re-evaluate what I'm doing with my life...working in hotels just doesn't seem so important anymore.

[itscat92]

@picasso566 haha, I was going to say that.

[picasso566]

@thescarlets78 Prostitute right?

[spideyjiri]

A truly great man

[GodlessInfinity]

^ If I ever expand into the farming business I'm going to farm chickens, for sure, but if we can master Cultured Meat, that technology has cornucopia potential. It's potential applications don't end at reducing hunger, even just focusing on the food aspect imagine if we no longer had to rely on harvestable land to grow crops or farms to provide meat, we could colonize Mars and Antarctica, we could survive a scorched earth or make it through an ice age. It's the obvious next step.

[GodlessInfinity]

^ Which is sad because factory farmers have made beef farming as efficient as we possibly can, we have cows practically stacked on top of eachother injected with hormones and unable to move away from their feed troft where they simply spend their whole life eating, but the farmers still have problems meeting demand. Factory farming chickens is a different story, not only do they produce eggs and feathers (both of which have value) but they're very cost effective little meat vegetables.

[GodlessInfinity]

@tehinfidel The funny thing about cultured meat, if you can make it look and taste the same with better nutritional value and less health risk then what should really be unappetizing is conventional meat, because of how it's reared and what it's exposed to before being packaged, and in a few decades beef will be cost prohibitive for many. We'll always factory farm cows just for the milk but the beef farming isn't efficient enough for our population size and the price is starting to reflect that.

[tehinfidel]

@GodlessInfinity It might seem unappetizing, but personally I wouldn't be against it at all, and in fact, it may solve some of the similar food issues we will probably face soon.

I was jokingly a bit hard on the vegan guy, and I love meat, but I realize it's not something that can be defended rationally, and if a clever and nourishing substitute can be found, *with* a backup plan (similar to keeping large, untainted grain stores while we mess with GM crops), I think it'd be great!

[GodlessInfinity]

@tehinfidel lol "And besides, cows are vegetables" awesome statement.

[GodlessInfinity]

@tehinfidel How about cultured meat? To me it's the obvious logical next step of Norman Borlaug's contributions, how many lives could we save from starvation if we could make meat cheap healthy and abundant without the waste and hassle of rearing farm animals?