A SPECIAL “SPECIAL ISSUE”
What an amazing and information-filled issue (“Who Controls Our Food?” September 2025). “The Kill Floor,” with its deep dive into the experience of immigrants and refugees who worked at JBS/Swift beef packinghouse, Narsiso Martinez’s incredible, poignant art in “Dignified” and Paisley Rekdal’s investigation into Chinese immigrants’ work on the Transcontinental Railroad in “Eating Bitterness” — all of these articles were of exceptional quality and gave me the opportunity to learn more about my world in all of its beauty and cruelty. Thank you for continuing to shine a light on issues that impact the West specifically, and all of humanity in general.
Garrett Mumma
Fort Collins, Colorado
NO PECANS IN DESERTS
I am in disbelief after reading “The Pecan Problem” in the September 2025 issue. I don’t think people listened to John Wesley Powell, who, in the 1800s, warned against widespread farming and advocated for water stewardship west of the 100th meridian. I feel for the people trying to live south of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico; I’m almost sure their wells are drying up. I live in the Sulphur Springs Valley in southeast Arizona near the New Mexico border. Thanks to Big Ag, Turkey Creek Dairy, Coronado Dairy and the plethora of pecan and pistachio orchards, we are having severe water issues, and our aqauifers are being severely depleted by wells that are 1,000 feet deep or more. Flood irrigation is used extensively in the orchards. People’s wells are drying up; we’re having major dust storms. It’s angering and pathetic.
Unfortunately, big money talks loud.
Katherine Brown
Cochise, Arizona
I have a small pecan orchard by the Rio Grande River near Anthony, New Mexico. This is the best article that I have ever read about this horrible problem. Everyone who is involved has a legitimate complaint with all the others. Your article has given me so much information and has caused me to do a lot of soul-searching.
Thank you for your contribution to relevant reporting.
Brian Charles
Anthony, New Mexico
I’m happy that someone sees the pecan problem!
The Rio Grande used to dry out two or three times during the summer months. This year is the worst that I have ever seen: It’s dry from Los Lunas past Belen. A person can’t even go fishing anymore. Usually, you can see families fishing and having a good time; now, I wonder if the fish are even alive.
I think greed plays a big part in this problem. The pecan orchards hog all the water and are destroying our environment. Thank you for showing interest in this growing problem.
Eddy Kirksey
Belen, New Mexico
GOOD REASONS TO RESUBSCRIBE
I’m impressed with the quality and timeliness of investigative journalism coming out of HCN right now — in particular, a shout-out to Eva Holland on the Alaska food supply issues with Canadian tariffs (“The Road Not Taken,” September 2025), and the Stateline article you republished exposing the betrayal of migrant firefighters (“Firefighters question leaders’ role in ICE raid near Bear Gulch Fire,” Sept. 3, 2025).
I’m glad I recently resubscribed.
Randi Jandt
Alaska and Oregon
POWER STRUGGLES
I was disappointed by the intro to the “Food Is Power” Facts & Figures piece (September 2025). It tries to achieve too much and makes sweeping statements that sometimes contradict themselves.
The author writes that, in the Northwest, dams on the Elwha and Klamath are being decommissioned, and “farmers might worry about their ability to continue irrigating …”
Neither of those dam systems provided irrigation, only hydropower. This fact was a key point of the Klamath dam-removal effort.
Natalie Bennon
Portland, Oregon
Thank you for your excellent report on power dynamics in our food systems. As an environmental policy student studying food security, I find it hard to explain the intersection of environmental, social and economic consequences that comes from the corporate consolidation of our food system. This piece did a good job of explaining that highly dense issue in a concise way. Thank you for your integrity!
Tosh Morgan
Bellingham, Washington
THERE ARE NO HUMANE EXECUTIONS
I read “Food for thought” (August 2025) with my father-in-law, and it sparked a heated debate over which execution method is more humane — lethal injection or firing squad. After considering the points author Kim Cross raised, we read The Guardian’s reporting of a botched firing squad execution in April where shooters missed the heart, instead hitting the pancreas, liver and lung, and causing at least a full minute of conscious suffering. The article included data from a human rights report that found there were 73 botched lethal injection executions in the last 50 years. By the end of the debate, we agreed there is no humane, ethical way to execute someone.
Cross’ point that the gruesome firing squad method may bring more public awareness, and, I would hope, opposition, to capital punishment is a strong one. Perhaps bringing back the guillotine would be both more humane and newsworthy.
Thanks for sparking important conversations with your great reporting.
Michael Rowley
Oakland, California
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