Want to Learn More?
Our Food Comes From Everywhere
In the US about 8% of farms market locally but a lot of food still travels great distances to get to our table.
Our World Is Changing
Humans are warming the thin layer of atmosphere that covers the globe. Because of this global warming, the climate is changing.
Our Crops are Changing
Climate change is altering the water, air, and soil that plants rely on. We depend on these plants for life.
Our Menu Is Changing
Almost everything on the menu—from drinks to dessert—is changing, including foods that are part of our cultures, family traditions, and fond memories. This is the heart of the story.
What Stewards of the Land are Doing
Farmers are adopting climate-smart strategies to stay resilient despite a changing climate. Scientists and many others are seeking ways to keep the menu stocked.
What Scientists Are Doing
Because of a rapidly warming climate, scientists are now needed more than ever to help create a more resilient food system, from farm to table.
What You Can Do
Become climate change literate, build the community, adopt a more plant-based diet, reduce food waste, consider your entire carbon footprint, appreciate and support the people who supply the menu, and be an activist.
Want to Learn More?
Our Food Comes From Everywhere
In the US about 8% of farms market locally but a lot of food still travels great distances to get to our table.
Our World Is Changing
Humans are warming the thin layer of atmosphere that covers the globe. Because of this global warming, the climate is changing.
Our Crops are Changing
Climate change is altering the water, air, and soil that plants rely on. We depend on these plants for life.
Our Menu Is Changing
Almost everything on the menu—from drinks to dessert—is changing, including foods that are part of our cultures, family traditions, and fond memories. This is the heart of the story.
What Stewards of the Land are Doing
Farmers are adopting climate-smart strategies to stay resilient despite a changing climate. Scientists and many others are seeking ways to keep the menu stocked.
What You Can Do
Become climate change literate, build the community, adopt a more plant-based diet, reduce food waste, consider your entire carbon footprint, appreciate and support the people who supply the menu, and be an activist.
The Book
This website reflects the contents of Our Changing Menu. The book is informative and science-based, providing greater detail on every topic than on this website. In addition, because the world around us and our food are changing quickly a “living” version of the book that could be kept up-to-date was deemed essential. This website also includes something not possible for a book—a searchable database of hundreds of foods and food ingredients and how each is changing.
Your Favorite Foods Are Changing
And they’ll keep changing in the future. Staple crops like rice and potatoes are grown and distributed globally, but extremes in weather are already hurting yields. Californian grapes are very sensitive to changes in temperatures, and some experts predict we’ll have 50% less of them by 2050. The flavors of teas are changing and seafood—from lobster to cod—is under stress.
Our food Ingredient Database shows what’s being affected by a changing climate. We will continue to add ingredients and the newest research.
It’s Not Just Foods That Are Changing
The plant-based products we encounter every day are also changing in many ways. The cotton used in clothing is under increasing heat stress globally, the fragrant flowers used in perfumes are grown in areas of very high risk from climate change, the protein and vitamin content in grains used in pet foods will likely decline as carbon dioxide levels increase in the atmosphere, and most of the world’s coconut used in personal care products is threatened by rising seas.