Iran-agriculture essay was a glimmer of hope
I was thoroughly captured by the July 6 column of Kenneth Quinn where he pointed out the accomplishments of Norman Borlaug and the esteem accorded him by Iranian officials could inspire "Peace Through Agriculture."
I feared the conflict involving Israel and Iran would engulf the United States and maybe the world. If Quinn's idea of American and Iranian scientists working together to eradicate wheat rust disease came to pass, a path to peace might be created.
Thanks, Mr. Quinn, for a glimmer of hope.
Jean M. Dell, Ottumwa
How to feed the world should always be on our minds
It was a joy for me to read Kenneth Quinn's great story of Iowa's son, Norman Borlaug, in the July 6 Register.
Earth’s population has doubled since Norman Borlaug's Green Revolution and will likely reach 10 billion by 2050. Elizabeth Kolbert's "Seeds of Doubt" in the current issue of The New Yorker asks if a new Green Revolution is needed to feed the world. Borlaug saw his Green Revolution as only a temporary success, and no new breakthroughs are on the horizon.
Rigorous (and painful) food supply management may be the best way forward. Food loss/waste, ethanol production, meat consumption and other issues need to be discussed.
Carl Bern, Ames
More: The Cedar Falls Class of 1995 reunion showed me how Iowa helped us succeed | Opinion
We need city-level mosquito spraying
We live in Beaverdale and are being eaten alive by mosquitoes. We've had more rain this summer than many previous years. Could the city please rethink priorities and find a way to spray?
Steve Green, Des Moines
More: Iowa 'Citizen Diplomacy' can promote peace through agriculture in Africa
Back off from polarization
Unplug from your echo chambers: your political ones, your religious ones. Actually meet your neighbors. Grow community. Bridge the divide only amplified by social media. Cultivate true empathy.
Make human connections which put faces and names to abstract concepts we struggle with politically. That way, when it comes time to think about the issues yourself, and not just what some paid politicians, lobbyists, or corporations try to tell you to think, your eyes see the faces and names of those affected.
Don't let moneyed interests, sycophants, and the performative pious easily sway your moral or ethical convictions. Always pull back and ask yourself if some issues is really worth it, so we're all getting caught up in culture war nonsense. May it be so.
Gwen Hope, Pleasant Hill
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iran-agriculture essay was a glimmer of hope | Letters
