Rebekah Klassen advocates for world’s hungry; is named a Borlaug Scholar
There aren’t many 16-year-olds who lists as one of her heroes a man who is known as “agriculture’s greatest spokesperson.”
But, in the opinion of Mountain Lake Public High School junior Rebekah Klassen, the late Dr. Norman E. Borlaug reached rock star status during his lifetime. “I researched him, read some of his books – he is known as ‘the father of the Green Revolution,’ as well as ‘The Man Who Saved A Billion Lives.’ Dr. Borlaug’s work was transformative; he left a huge legacy,” Rebekah emphatically states.
The intersection of Rebekah’s interest in Dr. Borlaug – and in eradicating world hunger – propelled her to the World Food Prize Minnesota Youth Institute on Saturday, May 7, where she presented a paper on the global issue and discussed problems and solutions on the topic with other like-minded teenagers in grades eight-through-12. The event was held at the University of Minnesota-St. Paul campus.
(The World Food Prize was conceived by Dr. Borlaug, a biologist, humanitarian – and recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. Borlaug received his Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1937 and his Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He developed semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties. Borlaug, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 95, was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal – and the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honor.)
And now, Rebekah, the daughter of Chad and Esther Klassen of Mountain Lake, is recognized as a Borlaug Scholar.
It was during the summer following Rebekah’s freshman year in high school – her Greenhand year as a FFA member – that she pinpointed world hunger as a cause in which she was curious and eager to learn about. “I was working on a speech for FFA, and world hunger was on the list of topics. I began researching the connection between poverty, poor soil for growing food, lack of education and world hunger. That interconnection led me to dig deeper into the facts surrounding the causes and statistics.”
What she discovered piqued her interest, and she became a local spokesperson on world hunger, writing a ream of papers on the subject, and presenting a line of speeches and presentations on worldwide food insecurity and possible answers.
Knowing her deep passion on the subject, “Ms. (Lindsey) Brown, one of my ag teachers and FFA Advisors, found out about the program and shared it with me to see if I was interested,” explains Rebekah. “Indeed, I was very interested, and began preparing my paper, working on it off-and-on for about a year. The focus of my paper is on India and the hung pangs of is people.
“India is as the top of the charts with the country’s number of malnourished children,” Rebekah shares. “In addition, they have a super-dense population. Ag-productivity levels are low; the soil is old soil, worn-out soil – not suited for productive farming. In addition, their equipment is old and in disrepair.
“It is a lack of education, and, as well, resources, that makes it so hard to improve their farming methods in order to produce enough food for all.
“In order to transform a village into the future, what makes the most sense?” Rebekah asks. “It is a conundrum. Is it better to just give food to feed children – or – to pay for a soil workshop for a rural Indian farmer to learn about better farming practices in order provide sustenance for many?,” Rebekah lays out. “To me, revamping their ag system in order to provide food security – with safe food – food without rotting and disease, is the real transformation needed.
“Unfortunately, with the large wealth gap in the nation, there are not enough resources for the government to educate all of its citizens.”
Following the submission of her research paper, completed under the supervision of her selected teacher/mentor, Ms. Brown, Rebekah was selected as a World Food Prize Minnesota Youth Institute participant.
About the Minnesota Youth Institute’s day-long event
The Minnesota Youth Institute is hosted by the University of Minnesota with the generous support of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.
Rebekah, like the other high school-age participants, presented her research paper and recommendations on how to solve key global challenges in a short speech, as well as in small group discussions with local experts. The papers were evaluated by three experts from University of Minnesota faculty and staff, an ag student – as well as The World Food Prize Board of Review. “One of the professors – a soil scientist – spent six years in Africa. What he learned, and his analysis of the farm ground there, were of such interest to me,” reflects Rebekah.
This experience additionally led to a connection of sharing ideas and identifying solutions with other student leaders from across Minnesota with a similar interest in eradicating world hunger.
On top of working with their peers, the students were able to interact with global leaders from science, industry and policy and meet innovative researchers, professors and college students in the state who are working to end hunger and poverty, and to improve food security around the world.
To top off the experience, the teenagers took part in educational sessions and interactive tours at the University of Minnesota, allowing them to explore current research and issues in international development and life sciences.
Each participant also received a $1,000 scholarship to study in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota.
Opportunities for Rebekah, other Institute participants
Top students at the Minnesota Youth Institute are currently being evaluated and will be competitively selected to represent the State of Minnesota as delegates at the Global Youth Institute, held in Des Moines, Iowa next fall, Thursday, October 13 to Saturday, October 15.
There they will join 400 other outstanding high school students and teachers from across the United States and around the world for an exciting three-day program to interact with Nobel and World Food Prize Laureates, along with the more than 1,000 global leaders from 65 countries who are also attending the World Food Prize’s annual Borlaug Dialogue international symposium. The symposium pulls the world’s foremost experts together to discuss cutting-edge issues in food security, and multiple youth education programs to inspire the next generation to study and work in fields related to global agriculture.
By participating in the Global Youth Institute, students are eligible to apply for either a prestigious Borlaug-Ruan International Internship or a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wallace-Carver Fellowship.
The Borlaug-Ruan International Internship is an all-expenses-paid, eight-week hands-on experience for high school students to work with world-renowned scientists and policymakers at leading research centers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Since 1998, 250 Borlaug-Ruan Interns have traveled to Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago and Turkey to get a firsthand view of pressing food security and nutritional problems in poverty-stricken areas and take part in ground-breaking research.
The USDA Wallace-Carver Fellowship is a paid two-month research or policy placement at a USDA laboratory or field office, or at USDA headquarters in Washington D.C. Wallace-Carver Fellows intern at USDA, analyzing agricultural and economic policy; assisting in the management of food, nutrition and rural development programs; and taking part in groundbreaking field and laboratory-based research. Fellows travel to Washington D. C. at the start of their internship for a week-long high-level leadership program hosted by the United States Secretary of Agriculture.
Experience tackling hunger issues on local, world levels
Rebekah’s fervor on world hunger and food insecurity has also led her to be proactive on a first-hand basis – at both the local level – working with the director of the Loaves & Fishes Food Shelf in Mountain Lake and collecting stock supplies for the food shelf through FFA Food Drives – as well as in the world – interacting with people directly affected by hunger issues while on a mission trip in the Dominican Republic.
“The end goal – to be a student leader in the fight against hunger – is to be aware, raise awareness and give with awareness,” stresses Rebekah.
