Reprinted with permission from the June issue of the Ester Republic.

‘Outpost Agriculture’ is a new column I’m authoring in the Ester Republic, an independent publication of the Independent Republic of Ester, AK. The column is conceived with a mission to explore all things food: the science, culture and politics of its production and consumption. It takes its name from a 1967 article by geographer Karl Francis, who said “Agriculture in Alaska is of a peculiar kind that has heretofore escaped valid and effective conceptualization.” As far as I can tell, things haven’t changed much.

Inspiration for this first installment, of what I hope becomes a Republic tradition that matches the’Missionary Position’ came at the Fred Meyer’s produce department. There are a number of things that are bound to annoy me on a trip to Fred Meyer’s: shoppers who hang out in the middle of aisles, for instance. But at the top of the list is when people mistreat produce. And the most severe form of this capital offense, bar none, is when they peel back the husks on corn-on-the-cob.

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