Corn Diplomacy

50 years ago today, September 23, two days before my mother was born, Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev was in my very own state of Iowa! Why, you ask, would a Soviet leader be in the meager state of Iowa? Well, Mr. Kruu.... was in a little town in Iowa called Coon Rapids, on a farm owned by one Roswell Garst.

Mr. Garst did some pretty awesome things during his life. The man was an executive of a hybrid seed company, one of the largest at the time, but often used the business for other motives. He traveled throughout the United States and around the world advocating improved food production, including the use of hybrid corn technology. While traveling around the globe, Garst was more than a corn man, he was an ambassador. His work helped to improve food production in many countries, and he continued selling corn to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In 1959, Garst hosted then Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on his farm. This trip was very diplomatic during a time when relations between the US and the Soviet Union were rather tense.

Who would have thought that corn, a mere food plant, could create such diplomacy? I congratulate Roswell Garst for using his line of work to do something so great for the world. Garst used corn to improve the lives of people that he never knew, and probably people that weren't even born yet. He also used corn to create ties between countries at odds.

This what we need in today's world: unconventional diplomacy. You know, the sort of peace making that occurs not in the aristocracy of government, but among the multitudes of people. True, Krushchev was a government man, but he wasn't brought here by the President, but by a farmer and businessman. Garst was doing what he believed was right at that time, and it was a great move. Not only had the man improved agriculture in many countries, making food available for thousands, but now he had become a true diplomat. He brought the highest level official from a rather hostile country to the US, not to discuss politics (although it did come up), but to discuss business and agriculture. However, the visit ended up being a somewhat political event, bringing the two countries together. It was unconventional diplomacy, started by corn, that worked for Garst and the US then, so let's try some now and see what happens.