Episode: What does an ecologist eat in the age of climate change? Mark J. Easter, author of "The Blue Plate"

Easter balances human and scientific insight to create a great read for eater.

Hello readers, welcome to the latest episode of the You Can’t Eat Money podcast, we’re excited to have you at our table.

Joining us this week is Mark J. Easter, an ecologist with decades of experiences who wrote a really amazing book published by Patagonia that just hit book shelves called “The Blue Plate: A Food Lover’s Guide to Climate Chaos”. Mark is no lightweight, he has authored or co-authored more than 50 scientific papers and reports related to the carbon cycle and the carbon footprint of agriculture, forests and other land uses and in 2018 was named a fellow at the Colorado State University School of Global Environmental Sustainability.

What surprised me most about Mark’s book is that I think a scientist has written one of the most deeply human books about the intersection of our food system and climate change. It is full of verified and peer reviewed research, but doesn’t miss the people at the center of this story. And I think we’ve brought that humanity into this episode.

Mark and I talk about the privilege we have to be able to think about and explore food the way we do. We also discuss the cultural aspect of how what we eat is being hit by climate change. The family traditions and recipes that have been passed down through generations that we can’t easily give up, even as we find out that ingredients have a known negative impact on our climate or for some ingredients might not be able to be grown at the same levels as in the past or in the same regions due to changes in climate. As Mark points out, nobody wants to be made to feel guilty about their food choices, especially those dishes are close to the heart.

But all is not lost. Mark shares the promise for eaters and producers of regenerative agriculture practices and gives us a great summary of what a climate-friendly food system looks like and how it will take all of us to make change happen.

Huge thanks to Mark for joining us. I actually read his book twice and found it both enjoyable and informative, so I recommend you visit your local book shop or bookshop.org and pick up a copy today. And if you want to go a little deeper, you can read my review of the book.

Check out the episode on:

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