I would like to start this article by acknowledging the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). This organization was founded by former MIT students, and it advocates for scientific research to be directed away from military technologies and toward addressing pressing environmental and social issues.
Although I am not yet forming a Union of Concerned Psychologists—in accordance with my studies—I do wish to communicate one critical matter: some of our favourite foods are being jeopardized by climate change. This is a major concern of the UCS and of some other organizations. I have read articles that list up to 29 of these threatened foods. As the brunch enthusiast that I am, and because Victoria has been voted brunch capital of Canada on multiple occasions, I will focus on some brunch staples: coffee, bananas, chocolate, avocados, and maple syrup.
Coffee
Most of us depend on our morning coffee to give us the appearance of functional adults. Unfortunately, in this article, UCS explains how the supply of Arabica coffee beans from Brazil and Central America has been reduced by higher temperatures, long droughts and extreme unseasonal rainfall, all which are a result of climate change. These coffee beans have been adapting over thousands of years to the climate we had 100 years ago, and their adaptation abilities are not sufficient to help them catch up to the rapid climate change of today. As a result, the supply of coffee would diminish if we do not take action.
Bananas
According to this article published by National Geographic, bananas have influenced the politics of many countries, and have led to the overthrow of at least one government. Thus, the world’s most consumed fruit could not go unmentioned in this list.
Bananas are a source of nutrition and income for many families in some of the poorest countries, like my home country Ecuador. Unfortunately, for them and for us, the production of bananas could be threatened indirectly. According to a study made by German Calberto, by 2070, land area suitable for bananas will increase by 50 percent. This is because increasing annual temperatures will make conditions more favourable for banana production in the subtropics and in tropical highlands. Sadly, this is not the whole story. Charles Staver, co-author of this study, stated that higher temperatures mean an increase in water demand, which threatens the production of coffee, as mentioned before. Because coffee is often grown with bananas, farmers who grow banana as a secondary crop may abandon bananas when climate change makes coffee cultivation less profitable.
Moreover, climate change also affects the spread of pests and diseases amongst bananas. Higher temperatures accelerate disease development. If any of my readers wants to learn more about this, I would encourage you to do some research on black leaf streak in bananas.
Chocolate
According to this article, cacao, the fruit that chocolate comes from, can only grow 20 degrees south or north of the Equator. According to the same article, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which are the highest producers of cacao in the world, will experience a temperature increase of almost 4 degrees by 2050. This will reduce the market value of the land available for cultivating cacao. We might think, then, that rising temperatures affect coffee and cacao in the same way, but it is more complicated than that. Cacao will be affected specifically by evapotranspiration, which means that as higher temperatures squeeze more water out of soil and plants, it is improbable that rainfall will increase enough to counteract moisture loss. As a result, cacao beans are also being threatened by higher temperatures.
Avocados
I must confess I had never seen people eat an avocado straight out of the peel with a spoon until I came to Victoria. Although I found it somewhat odd, I then realized I come from a point of privilege. In Ecuador, you can get 3 avocados for one American dollar, whereas in Victoria, on a good day, you can get two for five Canadian dollars. So I guess scarcity explains why people appreciate avocados here so much.
For my readers that are part of this demographic of avocado lovers, I am sorry to somewhat burst your bubble. First, avocados are actually a type of berry, not a vegetable. Second, the main supplier of avocados for Canada is California, and if you have read the news lately, you know about the wildfires there. These wildfires happen because of droughts affecting the west coast of America, but these droughts affect avocado production in a way you might not expect. This article explains how, because there is little water available from northern California, southern California now depends on water from the Colorado River, which has more salt, and avocado trees are very sensitive to salt. This causes the avocados to come out significantly smaller. If you are more interested on this, I invite you to google the term “the great guac crisis of 2016”.
Maple Syrup
Finally, I am ending this list with the one closest to home for most of my readers. Maple trees are “incredibly picky” trees, as stated by this National Geographic article. This means they need a very specific temperature to thrive. Barry Rock, a renowned professor at the University of New Hampshire who has studied sugar maples for over 27 years, says there is a direct correlation between sugar reduction in sugar maples’ sap and temperature rise. Before, it used to take 25 gallons of sap to make a gallon of pure maple syrup, and now it takes double. This means that the amount of syrup you would use to sweeten those amazing pancakes at John’s Place or Jam Cafe could possibly cost double soon.
When it comes to climate change, ignorance is most definitely not bliss. Climate change has many repercussions, and this article aims to illustrate in a simple way just one of them. The takeaway message is that we are all affected by climate change on some level, and being conscious about this is of utmost importance to taking action.