Articles by Tom Philpott
Tom Philpott was previously Grist's food writer. He now writes for Mother Jones.
All Articles
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Industry-funded Super Bowl ad rails against the (non-existent) soda tax
Maybe it’s just Monday-morning grumpiness, but I hate the media fixation with Super Bowl ads. Corporations and industry lobby groups drop millions on 30-second spots, and then bloggers scramble to come up with something fresh to say about them — and in the process, amplify their message. Who benefits? The bloggers generate some on-the-cheap page […]
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USDA ‘partially deregulates’ GM sugar beets, defying court order
Big Ag — can’t beet ’em.A week ago, the USDA shocked the organic-farming community by “fully deregulating” genetically modified alfalfa, after acknowledging that organic farmers had legitimate concerns about the move and hinting they’d be taken into account. On Friday, the agency didn’t simply skulk away from its own words in an apparent attempt to […]
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Mark Bittman’s new gig, struggling small farms, and more
When my info-larder gets too packed, it’s time to serve up some choice nuggets from around the Web. The Minimalist no more For 20 years or so, Mark Bittman has been one of the nation’s most important and prodigious food writers. In his extensive list of cookbooks and in his much-loved weekly Minimalist column, Bittman’s […]
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White House pressured Vilsack to approve GMO alfalfa, media reports suggest
According to reports from Wall Street Journal ag-policy reporters and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, the USDA's recent decision to green-light GMO alfalfa was based on political pressure from the White House. Brings back memories of the Clinton and Bush administrations, when ag policy toed the the agrichemical industry line.
