Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman
World Food Prize
Millennium Laureate Award Luncheon
October 16, 2000 -- New York, New York

[As prepared for delivery]

"Thank you very much. It's truly an honor to be in the presence of so many outstanding leaders and humanitarians, including my friend Ambassador Holbrooke, John Ruan and Ambassador Quinn.

"And, of course, Norman Borlaug: Nobel Laureate, the father of the World Food Prize and, even more importantly, the father of the Green Revolution. He is, in my opinion, one of the greatest Americans of the 20^th century. At the Department of Agriculture, we like to claim him as one of our own, since Professor Borlaug worked there, at the Forest Service, some 60 years ago.

"Congratulations to this year's winners, Drs. Villegas and Vasal, for their work on Quality Protein Maize at the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT). I feel some native pride, since Dr. Villegas received her master's degree in my home state, at Kansas State University.

"As long as I live, I will never forget my visit to CIMMYT about three and a half years ago. I was stunned into absolute silence by an inscription on the wall. It had to do with Norin 10,

the dwarfing gene for wheat. The sign said simply: "A single gene has saved 100 million lives." I don't know that there's a hospital in the world that can make that claim.

"Of course, there are many more lives still to save, with 800 million people on earth chronically hungry and malnourished. And if we don't tackle this problem now, the global hunger crisis will only worsen over the next half century, as world population increases by a staggering 3 billion. We are facing a monumental challenge that demands resources and commitment from the scientific community, the NGO community, governments, the private sector and ordinary citizens around the world.

"I am very proud of the Clinton Administration's record on international hunger. Last year, the U.S. government shipped 9.6 million metric tons of food overseas, more than three times the 1998 level. Whenever there was a crisis overseas, we were there with the humanitarian food aid needed to help people get by. We were there when the Russian economy collapsed. We were there for Kosovar refugees. We were there this year when a devastating drought threatened the Horn of Africa, where our aid was instrumental in preventing a full-blown famine.

"Unfortunately, not every nation has been as generous. The United States by itself accounted for nearly two-thirds of world food assistance last year. While we are more than happy to do our share, this is not a burden we can carry alone. I hope that the rest of the developed world steps up to the plate and shows greater leadership when it comes to international food aid.

"Now, simply dropping off boatloads of food on African shores, for example, is not enough. We have to make sure that the transportation and the infrastructure are there. We need innovative distribution strategies for example to ensure that the food is getting into the right hands and having the maximum impact.

"USDA is implementing a new Presidential initiative called Global Food for Education, which seeks to duplicate the success of our domestic School Meals programs. This pilot program, the brainchild of George McGovern and Bob Dole, will invest $300 million in its first year to establish feeding programs at schools in the developing world. At the heart of this initiative is the understanding that you cannot take step one toward a full, productive life unless your basic nutritional needs are met.

"Global Food for Education can have a far-reaching impact. By feeding children in school, it can help nations build the human capital they need to establish modern economies. It's been shown that improved education is an important first step toward AIDS prevention. And educated young girls grow up to have, on average, far fewer children than women who have no schooling. So this program can also lead to responsible family planning and thus more sustainable population growth.

"Our ultimate goal, however, is not to maintain a long-term aid relationship, but to help nations feed themselves. We want to enhance food security, defined as access by all people at all times to enough nutritious food for a healthy life, whether they produce it themselves or import it from other countries. To have food security, you need to have more than international benefactors. You need open markets, a commitment to conservation and sustainability, strong agricultural research, nutrition education, community gardens and so on.

"So in addition to our food aid, USDA is involved in countless development efforts around the world. Our Cochran Fellowship Program, for example, has trained about 7,500 foreign agriculturalists from 70 countries, bringing them to the United States to learn about everything from farm economics, to agribusiness development, livestock management, food safety and more.

"There is no doubt that biotechnology will be a part of the solution to world hunger. But instead of harnessing the power of biotechnology for the good of hungry people in the developing world, we have become mired in a shrill and often demagogic debate about transgenic crops.

"Important issues have been raised in this debate - the safety of these new food varieties, their environmental impact, their ethical implications and so on - but too often the conversation has degenerated into name-calling and finger-pointing - "Frankenfoods"..."Luddites"...and so on.

"The truth is that there are reasonable points being made on both sides. On the one hand, yes, we should embrace biotechnology. On the other hand, we mustn't do so with blind enthusiasm and without appropriate safeguards.

"That's why the United States strives to maintain a strong, transparent, science-based biotech approval process whose first objective is to ensure consumer and environmental safety.

"Unfortunately, what's lost in the biotech debate is the technology's tremendous humanitarian potential. It's a debate largely dominated by elites, most of whom live in wealthy, agriculturally abundant nations, many of whom are driven by narrow commercial or ideological agendas. The more polarizing and hostile the debate, the less we accomplish for the indigent people of the developing world who may have the greatest stake in biotechnology.

"Genetic engineering, however, is just one modern instrument we can use to improve the quality and quantity of the world food supply. As Gordon Conway of the Rockefeller Foundation pointed out in a recent speech at the Department of Agriculture, we also need to employ ecological techniques like integrated pest management, organic farming and soil restoration. And we need to make sure, again, that these tools are not concentrated in the hands of wealthy nations and their farmers...but developed in partnership with the people and communities who face the gravest food security challenges.

"I also want to mention global climate change as another important factor in farm productivity and, by extension, food security. Healthy food supplies depend on our ability to help farmers cope with volatile weather. We need not just better forecasting, but improved communication to farmers about weather patterns and help for farmers as they take preventative measures to mitigate the impact of bad weather. Some people have pooh-poohed this whole issue, but the fact is that the world's most renowned scientists have confirmed that the world's climate is indeed changing, and no sector will be more affected than agriculture.

"I can't help but note the irony that we are gathered here at the Rainbow Room, where a dinner for two probably runs you about $150. That's enough to help 15 Southeast Asian farmers buy the chickens that will provide enough eggs to feed their families for an entire year. Now I don't say that to make anyone feel guilty. I enjoy fine dining as much as the next person...perhaps even more so. And furthermore this isn't a group that needs a lecture about conscience, compassion and philanthropy. I just mention this fact to point out the wide gap between the world's nutritional haves and have-nots.

"The World Food Prize is an important recognition of those who have dedicated their professional lives to narrowing that gap. Barely a decade old, the World Food Prize doesn't have the prestige of the Nobel Prize. But I believe it should, and let me tell you why.

"Food is the most basic of human essentials...the fundamental building block of a healthy society. For all the jaw-dropping technology in the modern world, the fact is that the most sophisticated computer in the world is useless unless the people who must operate it are adequately fed.

"You can't have a healthy democracy, a thriving civil society or respect for rule of law unless there is enough food for people to eat.

"You can't have economic growth, business development, a professional class or entrepreneurship unless people's basic nutritional needs are met.

"You can't hold down a job, be a good parent or be a productive member of society in any way unless you're working on a full stomach.

"Peace and security also depend on a healthy food supply. Some of the bloodiest conflicts in human history have been over shortages of food.

"So this year's World Food Prize winners - and those that have preceded and will follow them - are, in my opinion, involved in some of humankind's most important work. On this World Food Day, it is appropriate that we honor and celebrate them. I hope, however, that in our minds we can make every day World Food Day. If we do so, if we approach this issue with the vigilance and intensity it deserves, we can -- in our lifetimes - make real progress toward eliminating the scourge of world hunger. Thank you very much.

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