A moving and informative biography of the 20th-century
American agriculture scientist whose innovations in crop varieties
founded the Green Revolution and fed hundreds of millions of people
around the world - with full-color chapter illustrations and STEM - and
history-themed text features throughout.
Can a quiet Iowa farm boy grow up to change the world? Norman Ernest
Borlaug did.
Born in 1914, raised on a small farm, and educated in a one-room
schoolhouse, Norman Borlaug learned to work hard and excelled in sports,
and later studied forestry in college, eventually becoming a plant
scientist.
Readers will discover how even from a young age Norman Borlaug dedicated
his life's work to ending world hunger. Working in obscurity in the
wheat fields of Mexico in the 50s and 60s, Norm and his team developed
disease-resistant plants, and when widespread famine threatened India
and Pakistan, Norm worked alongside poor farmers, battled bureaucracy,
and fearlessly stood up to heads of state to save millions of lives from
mass starvation.
Often called the "Father of the Green Revolution," Norm helped lay the
groundwork for agricultural technological advances that alleviated world
hunger, and he went on to win the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1970. He was
a true hero for the hungry.
Text features throughout the book include:
- Sidebars on the science of plant hybridization and pathology Norman
was using to produce new and better wheat varieties
- Information on a range of agriculture and plant life concepts,
including agronomy, wheat genes, photoperiodism, stem rust, nutrients
and more
- Back matter including a timeline of events and discoveries, and a call
to action for readers to think about how they can use science to solve
problems and how they can do small things to help with hunger and food
waste
Hero for the Hungry is excellent for a science class learning
about genetics, an agriculture class studying agronomy, or a history or
English class looking for a well-written biography on a hero scientist.
**About the Publisher
**Feeding Minds Press is a project of the American Farm Bureau
Foundation for Agriculture, whose mission is to build awareness and
understanding of agriculture through education. We focus on helping
young readers understand where their food comes from, who grows it, and
how it gets to them and believe in cultivating curiosity about food and
farming and how agriculture plays a role in our daily lives. All books
from Feeding Minds Press have accompanying lessons, activities, and
videos to further learning available on their website,
Feedingmindspress.com.
