Ideas worth wrestling with.
I write at the intersections of meat science, agriculture, public policy, food systems, faith, recovery and lived experience — usually about questions that become less simple the closer you look at them.
Some of this is analysis. Some is commentary. Some is theology. All of it begins with curiosity and a willingness to follow the question somewhere uncomfortable.
Follow the conversation that interests you.
Meat, Markets & Food Science
Meat science, processing, beef markets, product quality, food safety and the economic forces shaping the meat business.
Faith, Food & Theology
Food Theology, Scripture, vocation, creation, hospitality, agriculture and what faith might contribute to the way we produce, share and understand food.
Agriculture, Policy & Biotechnology
Trade, regulation, the Farm Bill, agricultural politics, cultivated meat, emerging technology and the future of food production.
Recovery, Advocacy & Life
Recovery, trauma, mental health, disability, caregiving, leadership and what difficult experiences can teach us about becoming more human.
A selection of articles, essays, commentary and conversations from across those worlds.
Featured writing & ideas.
AGRICULTURE + PUBLIC POLICY
Agriculture: Not a Political Puppet
An ongoing examination of rural America, agricultural policy and what happens when food and farming become props in the political process.
MEAT + LEADERSHIP
Meat Institute Emerging Leaders
Reporting from inside the meat industry on leadership, professional development and the people preparing to shape its next generation.
FOOD + THEOLOGY
Thanksgiving Food Theology
An exploration of food, stewardship, sustainability and the theological meaning hiding inside something as ordinary as eating.
Some ideas become essays. Others begin as industry observations, questions or conversations worth continuing.
More from the notebook.
Podcasts, interviews, webinars and industry conversations give complicated subjects room to breathe — and give me an excuse to talk about meat science for considerably longer than most dinner guests would tolerate.
Sometimes the conversation works better out loud.
Food Truths®
The Science of Cows, Meat, and the Consumer
A wide-ranging conversation about meat science, quality, markets, consumer expectations and how emerging technologies such as cultivated meat might fit into the future of food.
Food Processing®
Can the Meat Industry Capitalize on Its MAHA, Dietary Guidelines Moment?
A conversation about meat's place in changing dietary conversations, culinary and product trends, cattle supply and what increased demand could mean for the industry.
NMPAN
Markets, Sales Strategies & Differentiation
A practical industry conversation about assessing markets, building sales strategy and helping independent processors differentiate themselves from the competition.
I write regularly about meat and agriculture, science and policy, faith and theology, advocacy and the places those subjects unexpectedly collide. The questions change. The commitment to thoughtful conversation doesn't.