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to the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative
309 North Aurora Street | Ithaca, NY 14850 | info@tccpi.org
Cornell U. Press Publishes New Book on Food & Climate Change
Cornell University Press has just published a new book about the impact of climate change on food, Our Changing Menu: Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need.
In the book, Michael P. Hoffmann, professor emeritus at Cornell, and Carrie Koplinka-Loehr and Danielle L. Eiseman explore how climate change is affecting out food in subtle and not so subtle ways.
As the climate continues to change, some regions of the world will have adequate water and others far from it, reducing crop production. In the northeast US, increasing downpours are washing away soil and nutrients. It’s also getting warmer, with some surprising twists. Nights are warming faster than days, and cold months of the year are warming twice as fast as warm months. These changes have dramatic effects on crop yields.
There is also a lot more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and it’s climbing. This can actually increase yields, but any gain is expected to be offset by more extremes in weather. Weeds will likely get harder to control and the nutritional quality of major crops will decline, to mention just a few changes described in Our Changing Menu.
The book examines how scientists around the world are developing crops that are more climate-change resilient. Scientists in England are partnering with colleagues in Costa Rica to help develop more resilient cacao plants. Researchers with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service are finding ways to help farmers adapt to the new conditions and minimize their contributions to climate change. Universities are working with farmers to find practical solutions to the ever-increasing challenges posed by climate change.
Our Changing Menu encourages readers to become better informed about the science of climate change, the impacts it is having, and how to talk about it. In addition, it calls on us to get involved by engaging policymakers, raising our voices, becoming an activist, and joining forces.
A companion website to the book, which includes a searchable database of hundreds of foods and food ingredients and how each is changing, is well worth taking a look as well.
Cornell University Press has just published a new book about the impact of climate change on food, Our Changing Menu: Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need.
In the book, Michael P. Hoffmann, professor emeritus at Cornell, and Carrie Koplinka-Loehr and Danielle L. Eiseman explore how climate change is affecting out food in subtle and not so subtle ways.
As the climate continues to change, some regions of the world will have adequate water and others far from it, reducing crop production. In the northeast US, increasing downpours are washing away soil and nutrients. It’s also getting warmer, with some surprising twists. Nights are warming faster than days, and cold months of the year are warming twice as fast as warm months. These changes have dramatic effects on crop yields.
There is also a lot more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and it’s climbing. This can actually increase yields, but any gain is expected to be offset by more extremes in weather. Weeds will likely get harder to control and the nutritional quality of major crops will decline, to mention just a few changes described in Our Changing Menu.
The book examines how scientists around the world are developing crops that are more climate-change resilient. Scientists in England are partnering with colleagues in Costa Rica to help develop more resilient cacao plants. Researchers with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service are finding ways to help farmers adapt to the new conditions and minimize their contributions to climate change. Universities are working with farmers to find practical solutions to the ever-increasing challenges posed by climate change.
Our Changing Menu encourages readers to become better informed about the science of climate change, the impacts it is having, and how to talk about it. In addition, it calls on us to get involved by engaging policymakers, raising our voices, becoming an activist, and joining forces.
A companion website to the book, which includes a searchable database of hundreds of foods and food ingredients and how each is changing, is well worth taking a look as well.
News and Events
GYGB Now Recruiting Energy Navigators!
Looking for a way to contribute to reducing carbon emissions in Tompkins County and to help residents, especially those with limited income, increase the efficiency of their home and save money?
Volunteer as an Energy Navigator! Get Your GreenBack is currently accepting applications for the 2021 cohort.
Application deadline: March 19, 2021 (applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis).
Energy Navigators are concerned and capable residents who help their friends, neighbors and other community members learn about ways they can reduce their energy use and energy bills and use renewable forms of energy to heat and power their homes. They also try to lead by example!
Energy Navigators commit to a year-long program that includes a period of training, followed by supervised outreach and education with community members and/or K-12 students in area schools, using the PowerHouse when possible. Volunteers are expected to give at least 50 hours of their time over the course of the year to related outreach activities, and help connect their contacts with energy-related actions (see the Energy Navigator Job Description for more information about program expectations).
Apply online here,or download the application as a Word or PDF document and follow the submission instructions.
Next TCCPI Meeting
Friday, April 30, 2021
9:00 - 11:00 am
Due to the current pandemic, the monthly TCCPI meetings have moved online. Contact Peter Bardaglio, the TCCPI coordinator, for further details at pbardaglio@gmail.com.
If you have any issues you would like to bring to the TCCPI monthly meetings, please e-mail us at info@tccpi.org. General meetings are on the last Friday of every month, except for November and December. Because of the holidays, the November-December meeting is held on the second Friday of December.
The Ithaca 2030 District
Visit the website for TCCPI's latest project, the Ithaca 2030 District, an interdisciplinary public-private collaboration working to create a groundbreaking high-performance building district in Downtown Ithaca.
Looking for a way to contribute to reducing carbon emissions in Tompkins County and to help residents, especially those with limited income, increase the efficiency of their home and save money?
Volunteer as an Energy Navigator! Get Your GreenBack is currently accepting applications for the 2021 cohort.
Application deadline: March 19, 2021 (applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis).
Energy Navigators are concerned and capable residents who help their friends, neighbors and other community members learn about ways they can reduce their energy use and energy bills and use renewable forms of energy to heat and power their homes. They also try to lead by example!
Energy Navigators commit to a year-long program that includes a period of training, followed by supervised outreach and education with community members and/or K-12 students in area schools, using the PowerHouse when possible. Volunteers are expected to give at least 50 hours of their time over the course of the year to related outreach activities, and help connect their contacts with energy-related actions (see the Energy Navigator Job Description for more information about program expectations).
Apply online here,or download the application as a Word or PDF document and follow the submission instructions.
Next TCCPI Meeting
Friday, April 30, 2021
9:00 - 11:00 am
Due to the current pandemic, the monthly TCCPI meetings have moved online. Contact Peter Bardaglio, the TCCPI coordinator, for further details at pbardaglio@gmail.com.
If you have any issues you would like to bring to the TCCPI monthly meetings, please e-mail us at info@tccpi.org. General meetings are on the last Friday of every month, except for November and December. Because of the holidays, the November-December meeting is held on the second Friday of December.
The Ithaca 2030 District
Visit the website for TCCPI's latest project, the Ithaca 2030 District, an interdisciplinary public-private collaboration working to create a groundbreaking high-performance building district in Downtown Ithaca.
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