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.

My passion is food. Nothing excites me more than coming across a sumptuous new dish from a faraway land or playing with some heady new spice. I love exploring culinary traditions and how inventive home cooks make delicious use of simple, humble foods. But as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and floods upend so many lives and livelihoods in every corner of the world, I wondered and worried about what could be done.

So, a few years back I embarked on a journey to learn more about how food and climate change interconnect. What I discovered, frankly, shocked me. Who knew that after energy, food systems generated the most greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) worldwide? Who knew that buying local or organic or free-range made hardly a blip on emissions while land use, farming practices, and food loss and waste were all-important? Who could have guessed that of all the things I could do to lower my individual climate footprint, changing what I put in my mouth was by far the most impactful move I could make?

If you have found your way to this cookbook, then climate is on your radar. You may wonder if one person can make any difference or be curious about what you can do to help. As it turns out, every person can . . . and by a lot!

—Cathy

recipes | Cathy Katin-Grazzini

photos | Giordano Katin-Grazzin