Farm & Food File
A syndicated column by Alan Guebert
About Alan
Alan Guebert is an award-winning agricultural journalist and expert who was raised on an 720-acre, 100-cow southern Illinois dairy farm. After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1980, he worked as a writer and senior editor at Professional Farmers of America and Successful Farming magazine. In 1984, Guebert returned to Illinois to establish his freelance writing business and to serve as a contributing editor to Farm Journal magazine.
He began the syndicated agriculture column “The Farm and Food File” in 1993 and it now appears weekly in more than 60 newspapers throughout the United States and Canada.
Guebert previously wrote ”Letter from America,” a monthly perspective on U.S. farm and food policy for European and Asian publications. “Letter from America” ran from 1995 through 2007.
Throughout his career, Guebert has won numerous awards and accolades for his magazine and newspaper work. In 1997, the American Agricultural Editors’ Association honored him with its highest awards, Writer of the Year and Master Writer.
Alan and his daughter Mary Grace Foxwell collaborated and co-wrote The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey: Memories from the Farm of My Youth. Their book was published in May 2015 by the University of Illinois Press and the pair held 75 book events with farmers, foodies, and friends across the country. Their book is available for purchase online and at bookstores nationwide.
Latest from Alan
New Signs of Apocalypse: War, Famine, and Davos Man
Posted on June 15, 2022
On the very week the United States marked its one millionth Covid death and anxious American parents awaited a military airlift for baby formula, Davos Man, he of the pinstriped master-of-the-universe class, emerged from his bulletproof, bombproof office to report all was well in the world of intergalactic finance and handmade shoes.
Well, kinda’ sorta’ well.
There […]
A Kiss and a Prayer for Our Benefit
Posted on June 15, 2022
This year Memorial Day falls on its traditional day, May 30, the day set aside–originally as “Decoration Day”– to honor the nation’s military dead after the Civil War. In 1971, however, Congressional fussbudgets unhooked the solemn day from tradition and now it floats to whatever day follows the last Sunday in May.
That was a mistake […]
‘I have said we have to see some results!’
Posted on June 15, 2022
It’s no surprise that the nation’s five largest meatpackers, according to a May 12 government report, “engaged in a concerted effort with Trump Administration political officials to insulate themselves from coronavirus-related oversight.”
After all, the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis (the Committee), the body charged with oversight of government’s response to the pandemic, released […]
Harvested Cattle, Slaughtered Markets
Posted on June 15, 2022
You don’t need to be a vegan to know that livestock and poultry aren’t “harvested,” the squeaky clean verb that’s become fashionable among farm and ranch groups to minimize the end–as in The End–of most animals their members grow.
Soybeans are harvested; pigs are slaughtered. Wheat is harvested; cattle are slaughtered.
It’s not a minor point, insists […]
Cattle Never Judged Me, So I Never Judged Cattle
Posted on June 15, 2022
Despite spending every day of my southern Illinois youth on what at the time was a very large dairy farm, I never really had a clue of what made one Holstein cow or calf better or worse than the next Holstein cow or calf.
Most of that inability lay in my complete disinterest to show any […]
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Thesis: My home state doesn’t have more criminals in state gov’t than any other state. The difference is IL catches and convicts them while other states don’t. Prove me wrong. https://t.co/Np1FWPtSYF
GMO pushers never let a crisis go to waste when there’s a dollar to made and a new market to conquer during war, famine, flood, or drought. https://t.co/7JcTZyMsRL
A preview of House Ag Committee agenda under GOP after Nov. election and a great recipe to return to 1990, not prepare for 2030. https://t.co/GGPEFYWIKf
‘Autonomous’ meaning ‘without people.’ So farms without farmers, communities without community and ‘systems,’ not people. This is a factory, not a farm. Let’s at least say that before the cheerleading gets too loud to hear it. https://t.co/vSgZASsD9U
This is close to industrial perfection: Robotic tractors built by nonunion, offshore labor sold to US farmers (for $500k+) so they can farm more land with fewer-maybe no-people. Very 21st century Big Ag. https://t.co/hq5kVfdN2t
How many acres/ bu. might this be (a high-low range would be great) and this is mostly in HRW area, right? https://t.co/JbtjY7J5ZU