Des Moines Register
10-20-06
3 Food Prize celebrants savor an emotional night
At the Capitol, honorees fight back tears at the 20th annual ceremony.
By JERRY PERKINS
REGISTER FARM EDITOR
A lifetime of toil in the fields of agricultural development culminated in an
emotion-filled evening for the three World Food Prize laureates celebrated
Thursday night at the Iowa Statehouse.
The three men - Edson Lobato and Alysson Paolinelli of Brazil and American
Colin McClung - were given the $250,000 World Food Prize at the 20th
anniversary World Food Prize laureate award ceremony by World Food Prize
Chairman John Ruan III.
Although they worked independently of each other at different times, McClung,
Lobato and Paolinelli were awarded the 2006 World Food Prize for their work
developing Brazil's vast inland Cerrado region from infertile scrubland into
productive farmland.
After the ceremony, McClung, Paolinelli and Lobato fought back tears and spoke
with lumps in their throats about what had just transpired in the House chamber
of the Capitol.
"It was quite difficult not to cry," said Lobato, a soil scientist who built on
McClung's earlier work in the 1950s. "It was an outstanding celebration."
Paolinelli said he also was very emotional.
"I know this prize demonstrates the value of my country, and I am getting to meet
other people like Colin McClung who helped build the Cerrado," Paolinelli said
through a translator.
Paolinelli said it was also a thrill to be with Norman Borlaug, founder of the World
Food Prize and the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, for his work developing
high-yielding strains of wheat.
Borlaug advised him when he was Brazil's minister of agriculture from 1975 to
1979, Paolinelli said.
McClung, who lives now in Washington, D.C., said receiving the World Food
Prize was a great surprise.
McClung spent four years in Brazil, discovering how to use fertilizer and lime to
make the Cerrado - Brazil's savanna - bloom.
"I never thought about having this award, and I'm feeling a little sentimental at the
moment," he said.
McClung said he didn't know Lobato or Paolinelli before he met them last
weekend when they arrived in Des Moines for the World Food Prize events.
"It was wonderful to come to Iowa and meet these people," McClung said. "It's a
great honor to be standing next to these two Brazilian gentlemen."
There was enough singing, playing of musical instruments, processionals and
pomp Thursday night to fill the Cerrado's 300 million acres.
The world premiere of "The Laureate Call," an original choral piece composed by
Ben Allaway of Des Moines, was sung by a chorus of six women and five men.
With the financial support of Arthur Neis, the work was commissioned by the
World Food Prize for this year's award, which was first given in 1986.
Twenty-one-year-old twins, Walter and Wagner Caldas of Brazil, played a violin
duet, and Iowa musicians Maurita Murphy Mead of the University of Iowa and
Juan Tony Guzman of Luther College played a Brazilian piece on the clarinet and
guitar, respectively.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., assured the crowd that filled the House chamber
that the U.S. House of Representatives would follow the Senate's lead and vote
to give Borlaug the Congressional Gold Medal.
Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy unveiled the Borlaug
medallion, based on a Depression-era sculpture by Iowa State artist Christian
Petersen.
The medallion was given, for the first time, to the king of Thailand, Bhumibol
Adulyadej, who is known as the "Development King."
Two former 2005 Borlaug-Ruan interns also received awards.
Emma Flemmig, formerly of Glidden-Ralston High School, was given the
Ahmanson Intern Award for her work in Mexico, and Rachael Cox, formerly of
Ames High School, was given the John Chrystal Award for her work in Kenya.
Flemmig and Cox are students at Iowa State.
The Iowa Youth Chorus directed by Kristen Stanton ended the evening with "All
This Joy," a song written by John Denver for the World Food Prize presentation
in 1986.