CLIMATE CHANGE IS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY CONTINUED...
SPECIAL REPORT
such as roads and electrical grids, amplifying the damages of severe weather. Just over 4,200 natural disasters were recorded from 1980 to 1999, according to a 2020 United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction report. But that number rose to 7,348 natural disasters from 2000 to 2019, with a 232% increase in ex- treme temperatures, 46% jump in wildfires, 134% increase in floods and 40% rise in storms, the report said. And those numbers have con- tinued to climb in the last several years. Rising temperatures are also sup- pressing the supply chain. With ev- ery 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit increase in global temperature, “extensive losses” occur in the production of wheat, rice, maize and soybeans, the staple grains that account for two-thirds of the world’s caloric in- take, according to “The Climate Re- ality for Independent Restaurants,” a report published earlier this year by the James Beard Foundation and the Global Food Institute (GFI) at The George Washington University. A reduction in crops will drive up prices, and extreme weather can roil the supply chain, increasing transit time and disrupting distribution. “Climate change is an urgent
threat that significantly affects our food supply chain, and this impact ripples through communities, econ- omies, farmers, the fishing industry and restaurant owners alike,” the James Beard-GFI report stated. “As climate change disrupts tradition- al weather patterns, alters growing seasons, intensifies extreme weath- er events and leads to biodiversity loss, agricultural productivity and stability are jeopardized … This un- certainty affects the consistent and reliable sourcing of ingredients for restaurants.” For Minneapolis-based Chef Sean Sherman, owner of Owamni and a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe, solutions lie in return- ing to indigenous food systems. For Minneapolis-based Chef Sean Sherman, owner of Owamni and a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe, solutions lie in return- ing to indigenous food systems. Sherman, widely known as the Sioux Chef, recently earned a spot on the Climate 100 list published by the U.K.-based newspaper The Independent for his work to “source local, wild and heirloom ingredients and follow the sustainable practices that Indigenous communities have used for generations.” Colonizers devastated the land
through logging, mining and other destructive practices. Sherman is working to counteract that by ed- ucating people about indigenous foodways that are more sustainable. “It’s important to understand that, as we kind of crawl into some really devastating climate change issues and are facing major things like water crisis here in the United States, that strengthening our local food systems is really a must for us, especially from a restaurateur point of view, but just as a human in gen- eral,” Sherman said. “If we look at it from an indigenous lens, we can understand how to better utilize the landscapes around us and under- stand how we should be protecting a lot of our natural resources in- stead of endangering them.” These are huge issues, to be sure, but Sherman is addressing them with a local approach. Owamni, which comes from the Dakota word for turbulent water, whirlpool or eddy, is part of Sher- man’s nonprofit organization North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), which works to create a food system that “generates wealth and improves health” in Native communities. The operation includes the Indigenous Food Lab in Minneapolis, with a
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS JANUARY 2025
ILLUSTRATIONS BY DIMITRI MORSON/MIDJOURNEY
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