Norman Borlaug

“Without food, man can live at most but a few weeks without it, all other components of social justice are meaningless.”

“Yet food is something that is taken for granted by most world leaders despite the fact that more than half of the population of the world is hungry.”

“Almost certainly, however, the first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all mankind.”

“Man's survival, from the time of Adam and Eve until the invention of agriculture, must have been precarious because of his inability to ensure his food supply.”

“Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world.”

“I am but one member of a vast team made up of many organizations, officials, thousands of scientists, and millions of farmers - mostly small and humble - who for many years have been fighting a quiet, oftentimes losing war on the food production front.”

“Man seems to insist on ignoring the lessons available from history.”

“Therefore I feel that the aforementioned guiding principle must be modified to read: If you desire peace, cultivate justice, but at the same time cultivate the fields to produce more bread otherwise there will be no peace.”

“For, behind the scenes, halfway around the world in Mexico, were two decades of aggressive research on wheat that not only enabled Mexico to become self-sufficient with respect to wheat production but also paved the way to rapid increase in its production in other countries.”

“Nevertheless, the number of farmers, small as well as large, who are adopting the new seeds and new technology is increasing very rapidly, and the increase in numbers during the past three years has been phenomenal.”