Somber Waves of Grain

Norman Borlaug, the reason your next customer support call will be fielded by Raheesh Patel in Bangaloor, has died at the age of 95 from a wheat allergy. Borlaug, the only agronomist to earn a shout-out on the top-ranked show on network television, came closer than anyone ever has to buying the world a Coke and teaching it harmony. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his development of a wheat hybrid that did not collapse under its own weight, thus increasing yield, and allowing countries with uncontrolled population booms such as Mexico, Pakistan and India to feed their own citizenry; in effect, preventing them from also collapsing under their own weight. His breakthrough led to other semidwarf hybrids, although I believe semi-little plant is the preferred term, such as rice in China and the Philippines. He is one of only 5 people to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.