Howard Buffett Battles Hunger, Armed With Money And Science
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Nick Oza for NPR -
Nick Oza for NPR -
Nick Oza for NPR -
Nick Oza for NPR -
Nick Oza for NPR -
Nick Oza for NPR -
Nick Oza for NPR -
Nick Oza for NPR
Get Howard Buffett into the cab of a big ole' farm tractor and he's like a kid — albeit a 58-year-old, gray-haired one. He's especially excited when it comes to the tractor's elaborate GPS system, which he describes as "very cool."
"I'm driving hands-free," says Buffett, the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
He says that the tractor has been automatically set to plant 16 perfect rows of seeds, "so it makes everything more efficient. And it's going to give you a better crop in the end."
At his 1,400-acre research farm in Wilcox, Ariz., Howard Buffett is trying to make drought-prone land more productive, and then figure out how to get that information to struggling farmers in Africa and elsewhere.
What Buffett hopes to get out of his 1,400-acre research farm in southern Arizona, about an hour east of Tucson, are better crops and more efficient land use, for poor subsistence farmers and also for large corporate farmers. It's part of the work he and his charitable foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, are doing to try to reduce hunger around the world.
When Buffett was a kid, he loved to play in the dirt, and he grew up to be a farmer. So, when his father gave him money to run his foundation — about $2 billion so far — it wasn't hard for him to figure out what he wanted to do.
Buffett says it makes no sense that millions of small farmers around the world have trouble feeding their own families, and that millions of Americans struggle to get enough nutritious food to eat.
"You've got a global food problem," he says. "You've got a food problem in the United States. You've got a food problem in Africa ... in Asia. And so the truth is, the U.S. is going to have to produce more, on not very many more acres, honestly. And so we're going to have to do a better job."
That's why Buffett has this research farm and two others like it, in Illinois and South Africa. Driving around the hot Arizona desert, he checks in with one of his managers on how things are going. What makes Buffett so unusual for a rich philanthropist is he's down to earth, totally hands on.
They test a lot of things here: soil content, planting techniques and irrigation. They're trying to learn how to make drought-prone land more productive and then figure out how to get that information to struggling farmers in Africa and elsewhere.
Along with his foundation and his farm, Howard Buffett uses photography to raise awareness of hunger issues. In 2006, he photographed a girl receiving food aid at a World Food Program distribution site in Malawi, where 5 million people needed emergency food assistance.
Buffett says they're even testing two oxen — named Ike and Earl — to see what farm implements they can carry and for how long, to help poor farmers use the animals more efficiently.
Buffett has received many awards — including one from the U.N. World Food Program — for the global work of his foundation.
But recently he's decided to turn more of his attention to domestic hunger. He says it didn't make sense to ignore what was going on in his own backyard. And while it might not be as obvious as elsewhere, he says, hunger in the U.S. does exist.
So last year his foundation teamed up with Feeding America, a network of U.S. food banks, to set up a program called Invest an Acre. It encourages farmers to donate an acre or more of their crop proceeds to local food banks.
Buffett is also experimenting with a plan to let farmers use land for free, if they donate half the crop to a food bank. Last year, he grew 60,000 pounds of pinto beans for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, based in Tucson.
Bill Carnegie, who runs the food bank, says Buffett came by one day and asked how he could help. Carnegie told him that protein-rich pinto beans were an important staple for his clients.
"He probably saved us somewhere around $100,000 on this one contribution. So we're just very happy," Carnegie says.
He's also happy that Buffett has such a holistic approach to hunger: that it's not just about getting a bunch of food and giving it to those who need it, but figuring out how to make them more self-reliant in the long run.
Carnegie says the economy might be recovering for some, but the lines outside his doors continue to grow. Buffett says it doesn't have to be like that.
"Eliminating hunger in America is doable, because we have the resources to do it," he says.
Buffett recalls visiting a school in his hometown of Decatur, Ill., where 92 percent of the students get free or reduced-price meals. He says the irony is that the school is near the world's largest corn plant, which processes hundreds of thousands of bushels of corn each day.
"The trains go out of town past kids that don't get to eat every day," he says.
Buffett says he'll never forget a couple he met at a food bank in Fresno, Calif. — an unemployed accountant and her husband, an out-of work aerospace mechanic.
"They said ... 'The worst part is when we go out, we wait for it to get dark and dig through dumpsters and see what we can find,' " he recalls. "And I'm thinking, you know, this is America, you know, the American dream. Well, this is not the American dream."
Certainly not the one he grew up with, in his wealthy family. Buffett knows he's been given a huge gift. He says that's why he's trying to do something that will have a lasting impact on those who aren't so lucky.
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Transcript
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
Now, a story about someone who comes from one of America's richest families. He's putting his money toward basic issues of global health and nutrition. Millions of Americans struggle to get enough nutritious food. And in Africa, millions of farmers can't feed their own families.
Howard Buffett, the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, is passionate about fixing these problems. NPR's Pam Fessler has this profile.
PAM FESSLER, BYLINE: Get Howard Buffett into the cab of a big ol' farm tractor, and he's like a kid; a 58-year-old, gray-haired one, but a kid nonetheless - especially when it comes to the tractor's elaborate GPS system, which he describes as very cool.
HOWARD BUFFETT: What I'm going to do is, I'm going to hit this button right here.
(SOUNDBITE OF BEEP)
BUFFETT: You'll hear a little beep. Now, I'm not driving it anymore. I'm driving hands free.
FESSLER: The tractor has been automatically set to plant 16 perfect rows of seeds.
BUFFETT: So it makes everything more efficient. And it's going to give you a better crop, in the end.
FESSLER: And that's what Howard Buffett hopes to get out of this 1,400-acre research farm in southern Arizona - better crops, more efficient land use for poor subsistence farmers and large, corporate ones. When Buffett was a kid, he loved to play in the dirt, and he grew up to be a farmer. So when his father gave him money to run his own charitable foundation - $2 billion so far - it wasn't hard for him to figure out what he wanted to do.
BUFFETT: You've got a global food problem. You've got a food problem in the United States; you've got a food problem in Africa. You've got it all over the world - in Asia. And so, the truth is, the U.S. is going to have to produce more on not very many more acres, honestly. And so we're going to have to do a better job.
Johann!
JOHANN: How are you doing, sir?
BUFFETT: What do you think, you're back in South Africa?
JOHANN: Yeah.
BUFFETT: Is it hot yet?
(LAUGHTER)
FESSLER: And that's why Buffett runs this research farm and two others, in Illinois and South Africa.
Driving around the hot Arizona desert, he stops to greet one of his managers. What makes Buffett so unusual for a rich philanthropist is, he's down-to-earth, totally hands on.
BUFFETT: I told Doug we need to set up - I think he was going to talk to you about setting up the sensors outside the pivot and inside the pivot, so we could see how much difference there was. That'd be kind of interesting.
JOHANN: Yeah, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and then you also ...
FESSLER: They're testing a lot of things here: soil content, planting techniques, irrigation. They're trying to learn how to make drought-prone land more productive, and then figure out how to get that information to struggling farmers in Africa, and elsewhere. Buffett takes me over to two, fenced-in brown oxen named Ike and Earl. They're also part of the fight against hunger.
BUFFETT: I keep saying that these are the only oxen in Arizona, and I have yet anybody prove me wrong. These guys are dragging around different implements under different conditions.
FESSLER: To see how they can be used more efficiently by poor farmers. Buffett has received many awards for his global work, including from the U.N. But recently, he's turned more attention to domestic hunger. He says it didn't make sense to ignore what was going on in his own backyard. So his foundation has set up a program where farmers can donate an acre of their crop proceeds to local food banks. And last year, he grew 60,000 pounds of pinto beans for his local food bank in Tucson.
BILL CARNEGIE: He had never grown a pinto bean in his life,
FESSLER: Bill Carnegie runs the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. He says one day, Buffett dropped by and asked how he could help.
CARNEGIE: He probably saved us somewhere around $100,000 on this one contribution. So we're just very happy.
FESSLER: He's also happy that Buffett has such a holistic approach to hunger. It's not just about getting a bunch of food and giving it to those who need it, but figuring out how to make them more self-reliant in the long run. Carnegie says the economy might be recovering for some, but the lines outside his doors continue to grow. Howard Buffett says it doesn't have to be like that.
BUFFETT: Eliminating hunger in America is doable because we have the resources to do it.
FESSLER: He recalls a school he visited in Decatur, Ill., where 92 percent of the students get free or reduced-priced meals even though they live near the world's largest corn plant, which processes hundreds of thousands of bushels daily.
BUFFETT: And the trains go out of town, past kids that don't get to eat every day.
FESSLER: And he says he'll never forget a couple he met at a food bank in Fresno, Calif. - an unemployed accountant and her husband, an out-of work aerospace mechanic.
BUFFETT: And they said, well - you know - the worst part is when we go out; we wait for it to get dark, and we go out and dig through dumpsters to see what we can find. And I'm thinking, you know, this is America - you know, the American Dream. Well, this is not the American Dream.
FESSLER: Certainly not the one he grew up with in his wealthy family. Buffett knows he's been given a huge gift, which is why he says he's trying to do something that will have a lasting impact on those who aren't so lucky.
Pam Fessler, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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