These recipe excerpts are from Cathy Katin-Grazzini’s new book, Love the Foods That Love the Planet. Reprinted with permission from Health Communications, Inc. Photography by Giordano Katin-Grazzini.

Say goodbye to eco-unfriendly heavy pastry and laminated doughs that are loaded with butter and refined carbs. These delightful apple pastries are simply apples wrapped in a bit of leavened whole-grain dough. Pretty Apple Packets are elegant enough for company, and a green choice for breakfast, brunch, afternoon tea, or dessert. Making these pastries is a playful activity to share with a friend on a rainy day.

Apples grown in U.S. orchards carry a climate footprint of 0.11 kg CO2eq per kg, with only 6% due to emissions from synthetic fertilizers, 6% from in-field bacteria, and 5% from draining wetlands for farming, 57% from the use of farm machinery, 18% from the application of pesticides, and 5% from irrigation.

Apples’ Climate Pressures

Any food that features a carbon-sequestering tree fruit is a boon for the environment. Apples are grown in over half of America, but 63% of the yield comes from Washington State. The Pacific Northwest is facing hotter daytime and nighttime temperatures and more intense heat waves and wildfires, all exacerbated by climate change. Fruit trees like apple trees require cooler evening temperatures to repair and recover. Warmer temperatures negatively affect fruit size, taste, and stability. Like cherry growers, apple growers are employing misters, sunshades, and fruit coatings to mitigate excessive heat.