Articles by Tom Philpott
Tom Philpott was previously Grist's food writer. He now writes for Mother Jones.
All Articles
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The story behind the corn industry’s cloying ad blitz
Put that fruit juice down and grab a Coke. Haven’t you heard? High-fructose corn syrup — the ubiquitous sweetener found in everything from soft drinks to ketchup — isn’t bad for you at all. It’s true, because I saw it on TV. As seen on TV. Back in June, the Corn Refiners Association embarked on […]
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AP: cellulosic ‘not even close’ to being ready to satisfy government mandates
For a while, I’ve been wishing I had time to write a feature on cellulosic ethanol, the allegedly "green" biofuel that’s been "five years away" from commercial viability for about, oh, two decades. Government mandates — backed by a plethora of tax breaks, grants, and other goodies — require production of 16 billions of the […]
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Distributing industrial-ag commodities vs. reviving local-food economies
Across the globe in various ways, people are observing the U.N.’s "World Food Day." (Over on the Washington Post, Kim O’Donnel has a pointed "by the numbers" take on the event.) I’d like to compare two World Food day ceremonies, one in Des Moines, the other in Mozambique. In Des Moines, former U.S. Senators Bob […]
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The hyper-consolidated poultry industry might consolidate even more
Just four companies — Pilgrim’s Pride, Tyson, Perdue, and Sanderson Farms — slaughter and pack nearly 60 percent of the meat-chickens raised in the United States, reported [PDF] the researcher team Mary Hendrickson and William Heffernan. That dominance gives these corporate giants what economists call monopsony power — the leverage to dictate to their suppliers […]
