Foodie Michael Pollan continues his anti-agribusiness diatribe in his latest book, "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation." Noting that people currently choose not to spend their time cooking, he would manipulate their freedom of choice by placing a tax on prepared food, thereby forcing everyone to cook their own foods using untaxed raw ingredients. Not only will they get skinny, but they also will destroy the evil empire once and for all. Pollan even has advice for First Lady Michelle Obama. He tells her to stop wasting her time talking to food manufacturers about tweaking their products and instead use her bully pulpit to promote laborious home cooking.If Pollan's dream were to come true, which it cannot, the economic impact would...
A microlith is a small stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically several centimeters in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from at least the Upper Paleolithic, across Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. The microliths were used in spear points and arrowhea...
The Alaska marmot (Marmota broweri), also known as the Brooks Range marmot[3] or the Brower's marmot,[4] is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. Once considered to be the same species as the hoary marmot, it is now known to be unique. Alaska marmots are found in the scree slopes of the...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.