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Articles by Tom Laskawy

A 17-year veteran of both traditional and online media, Tom Laskawy is a founder and executive director of the Food & Environment Reporting Network and a contributing writer at Grist covering food and agricultural policy. Tom's long and winding road to food politics writing passed through New York, Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Florence, Italy, and Philadelphia (which has a vibrant progressive food politics and sustainable agriculture scene, thank you very much). In addition to Grist, his writing has appeared online in The American Prospect, Slate, The New York Times, and The New Republic. He is on record as believing that wrecking the planet is a bad idea. Follow him on Twitter.

All Articles

  • Tories’ attack on Jamie Oliver reflects conservative parenting styles

    From the international edition of the “Why Elections Matter” handbook comes news that chef and school-food activist Jamie Oliver‘s well-regarded and successful set of school food reforms are being dissed by Britain’s new Tory health minister. Oliver has spent years on the program, which has improved school menus, kids’ eating habits and, according to studies, […]

    Tom Laskawy Politics

  • Organic farmers better at pest control, study says

    Such large-scale pesticide application may actually reduce yields, a new study finds.Dovetailing nicely with Grist contributor and would-be farmer Steph Larsen’s account of her battle with the hated corn borer, a new study from Washington State University suggests organic growing techniques offer better pest control and larger plants. But first, let’s be clear: The debate […]

    Tom Laskawy Food and Agriculture

  • Food police have cameo at Kagan confirmation hearing

    Update below. Food made an appearance today at Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearing. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) wanted to explore the reach of the Constitution’s “commerce clause,” which allows Congress to regulate interstate business. (Conservatives like to argue that it has been used to extend government power far beyond what the framers intended. […]

    Tom Laskawy Politics

  • FDA takes steps to limit use of antibiotics in livestock

    Updated June 30 The FDA took a significant step yesterday toward restricting the routine feeding of subtherapeutic (medically unnecessary) doses of antibiotics to livestock. As Grist has detailed in previous coverage, this practice — which by some estimates consumes nearly 70% of all antibiotics administered in the U.S. —  has been linked to the rise […]

    Tom Laskawy Politics