about – snailwrangler

Snailwrangler is the moniker I chose in 2004 to capture an aspect of the work I was doing for Slow Food. Over the years it’s come to reflect much more than I ever anticipated. I’ll leave it at that.

Inspired by the work of others who curate and comment, I started this site to share news and information about food: How it’s grown, picked, prepared, served, wasted, mislabeled, fought over, reengineered, legislated, litigated, and manipulated; how our attitudes toward it reflect some of our most deeply held beliefs, biases, and hopes; and how food law and policy affect each and every one of us, every day. That’s not to say this site will be all policy, all the time: There’s much in the food world to amuse and delight, so when there doesn’t seem to be a lot of positive news, a palate cleanser of sorts is in order.

A native Chicagoan, and still one in temperament, I’ve come to appreciate a lot about California, not least the dizzying variety of food grown year-round within a few hours of my home. At the same time I miss the bracing winters and what my father referred to as “a killing frost” that could erase a lot of summer pests and problems and give a gardener a fresh start in springtime. Life—especially one focused on food—is full of such contradictions.

In addition to writing at snailwrangler.net, I’m an attorney who focuses on intellectual property issues, primarily contract and copyright matters in publishing ventures.

Links to books, DVDs, and other products may generate referral fees for this site, which help defray the cost of hosting and maintenance.