Citizens from coast to coast are getting their local leaders to embrace plant-forward menus and usher in a more sustainable default. — Over the past decade, food has emerged as the next frontier in the climate movement. Animal agriculture’s greenhouse emissions account for nearly 15 percent of all emissions, matching vehicular contributions, according to a Chatham House report. For decades, America has dug in its heels as a meat-and-potatoes nation — until…

Industrializing insect production to address climate change is akin to colonizing Mars to address overpopulation. — The New York Times, in an astonishing conclusion to its recent series on the destruction wrought by industrial animal agriculture, has invited Americans to forego cows and chickens… and instead feast on bugs. The Times isn’t alone in envisioning a future of insect-eating. Imagining eating insects has become a recent…

Americans’ evolving appetites reveal that we won’t always be a “meat and potatoes” nation. Perhaps a plant-based default is on the horizon. — Status quos around food often feel set in stone. In the U.S., to be called American can feel synonymous with “meat lover.” Eggs for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch, roast chicken for dinner — we grew up in an era where an animal product must be part of every…

Individuals can shift institutional norms and influence their communities, setting off a chain of events that transform our food system. — The environmental movement has recently leaned toward collective action over individual action, as Naomi Klein argued in her commencement address to College of the Atlantic: The hard truth is that the answer to the question ‘What can I, as an individual, do to stop climate change?’ is: nothing. You can’t…

Just as natural gas is only “clean” when compared to coal, so chicken is only “environmentally friendly” when compared to beef. — Climate change presents both an opportunity and a threat — the ultimate evolutionary challenge to adapt or perish. Approaches like the Green New Deal view the climate crisis as a springboard to a more sustainable, just, and resilient society. But many take a narrow focus, attempting to reduce emissions within…

Does the way the climate movement “eats” line up with its own sustainable values? — We’re celebrating our second Earth Day in the midst of a global pandemic, which, in just one year, has redefined the word “normal” for us all. Yet COVID-19’s disruption has also afforded us an opportunity to hit the reset button and establish a resilient, sustainable new normal. We’ve long counted…