Our Changing Menu - Ingredient Database

(Under Ongoing Development)

Cardamom

India

Over half of the world’s cardamom—the queen of spices—comes from Guatemala but climate change is posing increasing risks to production and the livelihood of thousands of small scale producers.[1] In the Cardamom Hills region of India, the incidence of minor pest infestations has increased.[2] The story is the same in Bhutan, where cardamom and farmers face an uncertain future because of climate change.[3]

References:

[1] “Waddick - Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture in Guatem.Pdf,” accessed March 11, 2021, https://www.american.edu/cas/economics/ejournal/upload/waddick_accessible.pdf.
[2] Murugan, et al., (2012). Climate change and crop yields in the Indian Cardamom Hills, 1978–2007 CE. Climatic Change, 110, 737–753 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0115-8.
[3] “Climate Change Impacts Make Cardamom Farming a Less Predictable Livelihood – Kuensel Online,” accessed March 11, 2021, https://kuenselonline.com/climate-change-impacts-make-cardamom-farming-a-less-predictable-livelihood/.

Our foods and food ingredients: They're all changing.

Yields of major staple crops like wheat and rice are being hurt by increasing temperatures. Wine grape production is moving to cooler climes causing changes in the character of some of our favorites. The flavors and health benefits of teas, the size of potatoes, the sting of a hot pepper, where fish call home in the oceans, and a future decline in protein in vegetables—it’s all changing.

Our food database shows the ingredients affected by a changing climate.

To learn what farmers, scientists, and many others are doing to keep the menu stocked, see Stewardship of the Land and Our Changing Menu: Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need. You have a role, too!

Using our database:

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Construction in progress...

This food ingredient database is in its early phase and we will strive to expand it on an ongoing basis so that everyone is aware of how climate change is affecting the foods we love and need.