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Articles by Tom Philpott

Tom Philpott was previously Grist's food writer. He now writes for Mother Jones.

All Articles

  • Can climate legislation survive the Senate Ag Committee’s embrace?

    Real climate action–or agribusiness as usual?Photo: mike138After the House narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey climate legislation, there was some talk that the bill might be “strengthened” in the Senate. The bill’s sponsors had faced a serious slog in getting it through the House, and were forced into making large compromises with the energy and agribusiness industries. […]

    Tom Philpott Politics

  • Unsolicited advice about organic beer for the Obama Beer Summit

    Every once in a while, Obama reminds us that a thinking human being, and not a card-reading automaton, has taken over the White House. The latest evidence: his handling of the Skip Gates arrest. Obama clearly didn’t vet his reaction–that the cop “acted stupidly”–with a squadron of pollsters and message framers before uttering it aloud. […]

    Tom Philpott Politics

  • With House food-safety bill a done deal, questions remain [UPDATED]

    Healthy appetizer — or public-health menace.[The House Food Safety Bill passed overwhelmingly Thursday afternoon. See more at bottom of post.] ————- The House will vote today on a momentous, controversial plan to overhaul a large swath of the nation’s food-safety system. The vote comes amid yet another round of recalls. On Tuesday, the FDA announced […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • On the origin of ‘superweeds’ and the chemical treadmill

    “There is no telling how many articles I have written with the theme of ‘Roundup every Monday morning until there is nothing out there but soybeans’ or ‘the best tank mix partner with Roundup is more Roundup.’ That made soybean farming so easy that even I could probably have done it.”—Ford L. Baldwin of Arkansas-based […]

    Tom Philpott Food