Farm writer/television host John Phipps shares some comments he’s reading this morning about USDA’s Office of Communications in light of the growing assumption that farm programs will be gutted even further in the 2012 Farm Bill: Here’s an example: the Department of Agriculture’s $10 million Office of Communications. Of the total, $9 million is spent on […]
While our main focus at the ABN is Ohio agriculture, we have joint ventures with radio networks in other states to produce farm programming. One of our partners is the Alabama Radio Network, so I had a passing interest when I saw this ad for Dale Peterson, a candidate running to be that state’s Agriculture Commissioner: […]
There are certain phrases or words that in a given context are used primarily to denigrate or smear one’s opponent. For example, the word factory used by itself means “production facility.” In the context “factory farm,” however, we’ve been conditioned to assume the farm in question is an unholy monstrosity where the environment is […]
One of the oldest cons in the book is known as the “bait and switch.” The idea is to present an enticing offer, say for a very high quality product at a very low price, but instead of delivering the high quality product, switching it with an inferior substitute. Various pages of commerce law […]
Okay, so the only connection between these two disparate topics is that Dr. Althouse commented on them both in recent days/hours, and she and I are essentially on the same page, especially about carry-on’s: If I’m getting on a plane with a bag and I could either check my bag or not, why should the […]
Some years ago, a combination of food scientists and food marketers developed a soy-based beverage that carried an amount of protein and nutrients similar at least in some recognizable fashion to nature’s perfect food: milk. Rather than calling this new food product “soy juice,” or “soy-based beverage,” or some other clever brand name, the productwas […]
Hoard’s is one of my favorite magazines, and they have a good blog, as well. I noted they moved the address of their RSS feed this morning, and in so doing, caused me to review the last month or so of their posts. One in particular caught my eye: ” How to lose the argument on […]
Farmers care about animals. Consumers care about animals. There are many values we share on both ends of the food production chain, but the big picture is that all of us have a vested interest in knowing that our food animals are treated with the utmost standard of care. Now, thanks to the proactive thinking […]
