Farm & Food File
A syndicated column by Alan Guebert
Reader Mail
“What Makes You an Expert?”
Posted on August 4, 2015
“I just read your column,” noted an Illinois critic of an early May piece that outlined a proposed, multi-billion dollar merger between the key players in the prepared foods sector.
“I have just one question,” the emailer went on, “what makes you an expert in the Sysco attempt to buy US Foods?”
Ah, blessed readers; they are […]
Past Present, Present Future
Posted on March 23, 2015
As winter’s icy hands again strangle most of the country, I toss another log in the stove and grab the stack of old newspapers, aging magazines, and new books that has grown tall during winter travels.
The newspapers take little time. No trick to reading a two-weeks-old daily newspaper: headline… headline… recycling bin. The magazines are […]
You’re Right, I’m Wrong… Next!
Posted on January 8, 2015
The email got the point as quickly as a working hammer gets to a nail: “Alan—You have got to be kidding me—production agriculture ‘embrace’ the EPA clean water regulations?” it asked not really seeking an answer.
The question was sent in reaction to a mid-September column that urged farmers and ranchers to work with the Obama […]
Howard’s Priceless Gift of Simple Giving
Posted on December 23, 2014
Originally published in 1994, “Howard’s Priceless Gift of Simple Giving” continues to be the most requested, most reprinted Farm and Food File column. The column inspired The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey which will be published by The University of Illinois Press in May 2015.
The Christmas tree was a scrub cedar hacked from the edge of the woods that […]
Let’s Hear It for the Readers, and Writers
Posted on July 16, 2014
At the end of every fiscal year, June 30, and the end of every calendar year, December 31, readers claim this space to offer their views of my views.
Take Mike C. from Texas who, after I wrote a spring column on how climate change will affect food production in 2050, sent a parody of a […]
Another satisfied customer
Posted on December 31, 2013
There are two file folders in the lower, right drawer of my desk. One is labeled “Mail,” the other “Another Satisfied Customer.”
The former is filled with complimentary or question-asking reader mail. The latter holds mail that’s more acidic than affectionate, more hammering than humorous.
Like an email from “Gil” in response to an October column on […]
Follow Alan on Twitter
If USDA overpaid farmers $14B in tariff money, will it ask for it back to fund 3M people it’s trying to kick off SNAP because they are *able-bodied*? By its own definition, USDA should @ least be asking for $ back from every *able-bodied* farmer. https://t.co/1PcaApMrVU
Why is this something to brag about when 40%+ of all 2019 farm income comes from gov’t, when most US meat, poultry & dairy comes from giant CAFOs & when rural water is unsafe? Brag when farmers, taxpayers & consumers are all getting better deals. https://t.co/Trw5dKXAof
So farm groups will soon need another bloody shirt to wave once USMCA clears the House. Nominees? Likely won’t be tariffs or Trump. https://t.co/W9sSYW5Us1
Obama USDA boss, Tom Vilsack, endorsed Biden last week implying Obama era farm policies (crop insurance, little defense of conservation) might be maintained in Biden WH. https://t.co/6IcciBASkK
Cash rent is per-acre cost to use non-farming owner’s land for one growing season. (In central IL it’s now averages $275/A.) All gov’t payments like tariff mitigation money (~$80/A this year in IL) usually go to tenant, not landowner. https://t.co/Xs1J6uokAJ