Articles by Tom Philpott
Tom Philpott was previously Grist's food writer. He now writes for Mother Jones.
All Articles
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Obama needs to pay attention to a different kind of leak in the Gulf
There’s a lot of talk in the media about whether President Obama is sufficiently angry about the oil spill. Who cares? There are many more important questions, including: How effectively is the government managing the response? Is it forcing BP to be transparent and honest with the public? Is it making sure that the cleanup […]
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How food micro-entrepreneurs nourish cities
In her book The Economy of Cities, the great urban theorist Jane Jacobs praised what she called the “valuable inefficiencies and impracticalities of cities.” To explain her point, she invited readers to consider two examples from 19th century England: Manchester and Birmingham — or as she put it, “Efficient Manchester” and “Inefficient Birmingham.” As I […]
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Urban farms don’t make money — so what?
City Slicker Farms in West Oakland does more than just grow food for the local residents.(Bonnie Powell photo)Over on Earth Island Journal, Sena Christian has an excellent, rigorously reported article about the tough economics of urban farming. She focuses on some of the more famous city farms of the Bay Area, where EIJ is based […]
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Monbiot on “Beyond Petroleum,” circa 2006
“For a company that claims to have moved ‘beyond petroleum,’ BP has managed to spill an awful lot of it on to the tundra in Alaska. Last week, after the news was leaked to journalists, it admitted to investors that it is facing criminal charges for allowing 270,000 gallons of crude oil to seep across […]
