Articles by Tom Philpott
Tom Philpott was previously Grist's food writer. He now writes for Mother Jones.
All Articles
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Rising food prices hit home around the world
Is a change coming to your cart? Photo: iStockphoto Hey you, in the supermarket line — yeah, you, the one with the stuffed cart. Are you ready to pay up for those groceries? You’d better be, pal. That’s the message from Bill Lapp, former chief economist for the food giant Conagra. “I think [U.S.] consumers […]
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President hails cellulosic ethanol as a panacea
I’m offended: President Bush evidently hasn’t been following my string of posts about how cellulosic ethanol probably won’t ever be viable. Addressing a renewable-energy conference, the president fretted that the ethanol boom he set in motion is “beginning to affect the price of food.” He added: “So we got to do something about it.” And […]
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If deals go through, three firms will own 90 percent of the U.S. beef market
In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries. You’d be hard-pressed to find an industry more consolidated than beef-packing. Just four companies slaughter 83.5 percent of cows consumed in the United States. In standard antitrust theory, a market stops being competive when the four biggest players control 40 […]
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New study from mainstream ag economists at Iowa State
Cellulosic ethanol represents a beacon on the horizon — the justification cited by wiseguys like Vinod Khosla for dropping billions per year in public cash to prop up corn ethanol production. Corn ethanol, you see, is a bridge to a bright cellulosic future. But the beacon is looking more and more like a mirage, a […]
