Farm & Food File
A syndicated column by Alan Guebert
Reader Mail
Hey, Mistakes Happen
Posted on September 9, 2015
Rare is the day any newspaper is printed without a mistake. All strive for perfection; few ever achieve it.
Newspapers, of course, don’t make mistakes; newspaper reporters and editors make mistakes. Last week, one of those reporters was me.
In a column outlining the newly reinstated lawsuit challenging how the National Pork Board paid the National Pork […]
“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
So even a relatively strong-say, 15%-recovery in US farm prices brings most back to barely profitable, pre-coronavirus levels. In last 3 yrs, total US farm program cost (Farm Bill+Trump Bucks) is ~$100B w/ no market impact. This is what an ag policy collapse looks like. https://t.co/oYqUfbPouv
Powerful, straight-up truth from one of the best. Please read. https://t.co/2PgvNr74Su
Why would a public Land Grant tweet a discredited WH report by an in-the-tank reporter to wrongly undermine already weak US/China ag trade deal WH once loved? Pro tip @FarmPolicy, you do policy & let the politicians do the politics. https://t.co/E2wpOp8bZx
Solid reporting that could be introductory chapter of Congress’s Covid Commission report 5 years from now. Fact-filled, devastating timeline of US incompetence & hubris that promises even more failure & death this summer. https://t.co/M3d7GnpIRQ
Much here to praise @TimothyAWise @IATP. White House *food czar* is stretch but USDA reorg that emphasizes farms and food equally must be priority before rewrite of today’s failing, costly Farm Bill. https://t.co/jIvhsOIKWr
Great piece with good info and solid ideas. Well done Civil Eats. https://t.co/c8V59Es7qu