Interesting discussion. Here's what I think (and I work in media):

1. Newspapers will slim down, both in size and in focus of content, to meet their lowered financial expectations. They will become physically smaller or thinner, and more tightly focused on what is "local", which is their only niche.

2. For columns like The Amish Cook, this is bad news in a traditional sense. Any column that's not Dear Abby or George Will's op/ed will be fighting against every other column for dwindling amounts of space and money. All discretionary columns will suffer losses and for some, the losses will be fatal.

3. Satisfying niche columns such as The Amish Cook should react by changing their business model. The current model is, "I write the column; lots of you newspapers buy it." The new model should depend on selling not the column, but books of recipes and perhaps food grown the Amish way, along with related products. In this environment, the column should be given away for free to as many newspapers and websites (and perhaps even radio stations, as talk segments) as will carry it in exchange for the end-of-column promotion. The sheer number of foodie websites alone would provide plenty of marketing muscle, and most would be glad to have free, professional content.

For what it's worth, and best of luck to you!