The Borlaug Blog

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood;”

Those are the first lines in the “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost.   I first recited this poem as a part of a speech given just months before starting college to study agriculture.  It was 1980, and many saw my road, or my area of study, as one not to be taken by women.

Fast forward to February 2012, my second visit to the World Food Prize’s Hall of Laureates, my first only a few days before. Both visits were due to my capacity as a USDA employee, and related to the signing of the U.S. - China Strategic Cooperative Agreement.   On those visits, I knew little about Dr. Borlaug, the history of the World Food Prize, or the Hall of Laureates.  A few months later that all changed.  I became a docent and began to share the stories that are held in the building’s art and architecture. 

I was surprised to learn that Dr. Borlaug had accepted a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture beginning upon his college graduation.  However, USDA budget constraints delayed the start of this job for six months.  During that time, Dr. Borlaug attended a lecture by his soon-to-be mentor Dr. Elvin Stakman that changed his focus and the trajectory of his career and life.  He faced two roads, choosing a different road from the one that had already been laid before him.

That story inspires me.  It impacts me, as do other stories in the Hall of Laureates.  These are stories of one person taking action, one person seeing something others did not and choosing that road that has not yet been taken.  Dr. Borlaug accepted a USDA job, but when faced with a different idea, he chose a new direction.  How different the world would have been had he not decided to take that different road.  In founding the World Food Prize, he built a new road.  Had he not persisted and had his road not crossed with that of John Ruan, which brought the World Food Prize to Iowa, we may not be celebrating the accomplishments of so many. 

Each name in the Hall of Laureates inspires me. It is difficult to pick which of the Laureates’ stories to tell visitors.  All have made an impact.  All chose a road that had not yet been taken.  Individuals like: Jo Luck (U.S.A.), who with Heifer International made communities more sustainable and empowered families; Dr. Daniel Hillel (Israel), who pioneered “micro-irrigation; the Hon. Catherine Bertini (United Nations), who emphasized the role of women and girls; Dr. Gebisa Ejeta (Ethiopia), who developed a high yielding sorghum plant; or the Hon. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed (Bangladesh), who left a successful corporate job to found BRAC, which provides opportunities for 150 million people worldwide to improve their lives.  These are just a few of the “roads” that inspire me during each visit.  

Even those involved in the building’s restoration chose to take the more difficult road and are inspiring others that buildings of similar age can attain LEED platinum certification.  And I can’t forget World Food Prize President, Amb. Kenneth Quinn’s road when he participated in rescues to protect American citizens in Cambodia.

On every level, in every room, at every turn, this beautiful building inspires me by honoring individuals who took action. Action like the Iowa Gallery’s Iowa Hog Lift painting that reminds us of the Iowa serviceman who saw the devastation to the livestock industry in Japan after it was hit by two typhoons. He took action and the road others didn’t see when he contacted the Iowa Corn Growers and the Iowa Pork Producers for help. 

These stories of Dr. Borlaug and all those represented in the Hall of Laureates ARE the last three lines of Robert Frost’s poem: 

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

And that is what has made all of the difference.

I humbly thank and am inspired by Dr. Borlaug and all those who are a part of the Hall of Laureates for taking a road that had not yet been taken.  May they inspire all of us to find the courage to take a road, which may be more difficult or may not yet be paved, but that will make all the difference in our world.