Why I Disagree With Kevin Drum on California's GMO Labeling Proposition
In his recent "Guide to California's Ballot Mayhem," my colleague the prominent political blogger Kevin Drum came out against Prop. 37, which would require that all foods containing genetically...
View ArticleA Geneticist's Take on California's Prop 37
Editor's note: This is a guest post by geneticist and author Belinda Martineau, who was a principal scientist at Calgene Inc., where she helped commercialize the world's first genetically engineered...
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What Would "President Romney" Mean for Food and Agriculture?
The election-handicapping guru Nate Silver reckons President Obama's prospects for victory at about 80 percent. Four-to-one odds might sound like a sure thing—but would you think so in a game of...
View ArticleDid California Voters Defeat the Food Movement Along With Prop. 37?
"Come at the king, you best not miss," the character Omar famously observed on The Wire. Does the law of the streets apply to the politics of food? Writing in the The New York Times Magazine last...
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Charts: How Big Pork Screws Small Towns
I've argued often that the food system functions like an economic sieve, draining away wealth. Imagine, say, a suburb served by a handful of fast-food chains plus a supermarket or Walmart or two....
View ArticleThe 5 Unfinished Items That Will Shape Obama's Food and Ag Legacy
President Barack Obama enters his second term with a complex record on food and farm policy. Eight months into the first term, I assessed the administration's record like this:Like a tractor driven by...
View ArticleThe Coming Threat to Your Craft Brew
Over at Washington Monthly, Tim Heffernan has an in-depth piece on a topic dear to my heart: the stunning consolidation of the US beer industry. He points out, as I have before, that two vast,...
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Tom's Kitchen: Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Chili Pepper
When you're cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner, you want at least one super-easy side dish to create time for wrestling with the turkey and making complicated desserts. I've got one for you: It's...
View ArticleThoughts on Our National Feast Day, With 6 Recipes
In his 1996 book Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom, the great food anthropologist Sidney Mintz concluded that the United States had no cuisine. Interestingly, Mintz's definition of cuisine came down to...
View ArticleAre We Heading Toward Peak Fertilizer?
You've heard of peak oil—the idea that the globe's easy-to-get-to petroleum reserves are largely cashed, and most of what's left is the hard stuff, buried in deep-sea deposits or tar sands. But what...
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