Articles by Grist staff

Brushing aside pressure, Obama taps a big-ag man as USDA chief

"Tom Vilsack was one of the first governors to see the promise of biotechnology. He has a very balanced view of agriculture and understands its potential." — Ted Crosbie, vice president of global plant breeding and director of Monsanto’s Iowa operations "Governor Vilsack would be an outstanding choice for Secretary of Agriculture. He would bring […]

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack chosen as Obama’s agriculture secretary

President-elect Barack Obama will nominate former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to be secretary of agriculture, Democratic sources say. Vilsack has been a big booster of ethanol, including corn-derived ethanol. “I think corn was a great way to start the conversation on renewable fuel,” he said in an interview with Grist last year. “But we […]

The Fair Food Foundation crumbles under weight of the Madoff Ponzi scheme

For a couple of years, there has been lots of buzz in the sustainable-food world about the Fair Food Foundation of Ann Arbor, Mich. Fair Food was founded recently by Oran Hesterman, under whose leadership the Kellogg Foundation became the key funder in the sustainable-food space. Kellogg has been pulling back from that space; Fair […]

Bush admin exempts farms from reporting toxic fumes

In yet another late-in-the-game not-so-green move, the Bush administration on Friday issued a regulation that exempts factory farms from having to report to the government about releases of hazardous air pollution from animal waste.