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Unlocking the Gates
Bill Gates reveals support for GMO ag 44
Posted 2 weeks, 3 days ago by Tom PhilpottThe Gates Foundation is reshaping African agriculture. So far, it has refrained from declaring patent-protected biotechnology a panacea for African farmers. But if a recent speech by Bill Gates is any indication, that view may be changing. Read More
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Half-baked
What Gourmet’s critics missed 5
Posted 3 weeks, 4 days ago by Tom PhilpottGourmet magazine was a pioneer among its glossy peers in making space for a new and fast-growing appetite among American readers: the desire for critical perspectives on the food system. Read More
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GMO job--or new food paradigm?
Another Monsanto man in a key USDA post? Obama’s ag policy’s giving me whiplash 20
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Tom PhilpottWith new ag appointments, the Obama administration's food/ag policy keeps zigzagging between progressive change and the agrichemical status quo. Read More
More Victual Reality
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King Corn speaks
An ‘agri-intellectual’ talks back 49
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Tom Philpott
A lot of folks have asked what I think of the essay "The Omnivore's Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals," by Missouri corn-soy farmer Blake Hurst... Read More
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Salad spinner
With House food-safety bill a done deal, questions remain [UPDATED] 19
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago by Tom Philpott
The House will likely pass a wide-ranging food-safety bill Thursday. Tom Philpott doesn't question the need for reform--but wonders what it means for small and mid-sized farms. Read More
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Chipotle grilled
Burrito chain’s Food, Inc. sponsorship generates off-screen drama over farm-worker issues 22
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago by Tom Philpott
Chipotle Mexican Grill is sponsoring Food, Inc. screenings nationwide. But the film's director and producer--Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser--have publicly called out the burrito giant over farm-worker issues. What gives? Tom Philpott digs in. Read More
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Swing low, revolving door
Monsanto’s man Taylor returns to FDA in food-czar role 14
Posted 4 months ago by Tom Philpott
The Obama Admininstration has named former Monsanto chief lobbyist Michael Taylor to a powerful role within the FDA. Some in the sustainable-food world applauded the move. Not Tom Philpott. Read More
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Leverage on a bun
What the financial collapse can teach us about the food system 18
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago by Tom Philpott
During the housing boom, signs of a coming disaster were not hard to see -- if you looked. Indeed, many financial execs did foresee the current meltdown, even as they continued pocketing cash from the bubble. All of this got Tom Philpott thinking of another highly leveraged system: industrial food. Read More
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Follow the herd
Another symptom of swine flu: instant amnesia 23
Posted 6 months ago by Tom Philpott
Now that the swine flu that broke out last month is proving not so virulent, it has largely been shuffled off of the front page. But the conditions that likely caused it -- a global web of vast, lightly regulated factory animal farms -- remains in place. And we might not be as lucky next time. Read More
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Food is the new green
Earth Day reflections on food as an environmental issue 2
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago by Tom Philpott
We need to figure out new economic models to make sustainably produced food a viable option for everyone. For food to reach its full potential as a green issue -- for our society to feed itself in a way that's not literally destroying our habitat -- that's our challenge. Read More
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Back to the future
Toward a less efficient and more robust food system 7
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago by Tom Philpott
There's no way one farmer, or even a group of farmers, can make the investments we need to bolster our food economy. This is a community-scale opportunity that requires community-scale efforts. Read More
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Sweetness and Blight
Why is the FDA unwilling to study evidence of mercury in high-fructose corn syrup? 7
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago by Tom Philpott -
Food and the 'Beloved Community'
Reflections on community gardens and the legacy of MLK 3
Posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago by Tom Philpott -
Eat the Stimulus
Think locally, act infrastructurally 15
Posted 10 months ago by Tom Philpott -
GMO Job
Will the Obama administration be the first to seriously regulate genetically modified food? 2
Posted 11 months ago by Tom Philpott -
Impressions from Terra Madre in Turin, Italy 2
Posted 1 year ago by Tom Philpott -
The story behind the corn industry’s cloying ad blitz 12
Posted 1 year ago by Tom Philpott -
Weighing Obama’s and McCain’s stances on food and farm policyMcCain: Food Maverick? 5
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago by Tom Philpott -
Slow Food Nation was magnificent in many ways, but overshot its mandate 17
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago by Tom Philpott -
Notes on a recent trip to Mexico 8
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago by Tom Philpott -
Why Paul Roberts’ End of Food deserves to be digested 14
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago by Tom Philpott -
As the ground shifts under their feet, food giants experiment with new strategies 8
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago by Tom Philpott -
How the organic movement can regain its relevance 24
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago by Tom Philpott -
As corn and soy fields drown in rainwater, the food crisis deepens 19
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago by Tom Philpott -
To create a truly sustainable food system, we’ll have to confront the farm-labor crisis 14
Posted 1 year, 5 months ago