A four-course dinner in Minneapolis has highlighted how everyday foods such as coffee, wine and chocolate could drastically change or disappear due to the climate crisis. The event, dubbed 'the last supper', was hosted by Sam Kass, former White House chef and adviser to President Barack Obama, and chef Andrew Zimmern.
The menu featured familiar dishes including Norwegian salmon, oysters, lamb and sticky toffee pudding – all ingredients that could be affected by global warming. Kass explained that the point was to show how even common foods are at risk, not just exotic ones. 'The reality is this is starting to play out right now,' he said.
The dinner took place during an unusually warm winter in Minnesota, where the Great Northern festival normally celebrates snow and cold. This year, a sledding rally used cardboard due to the lack of snow. The festival included a climate series to highlight the need to preserve winter.
Kass centres his narrative on coffee, wine and chocolate, which could suffer major crop loss with only slight warming. 'It’s foods that we consume every single day and bring us a lot of joy,' he said. Zimmern noted that as these foods become rarer, they become more expensive, exacerbating inequalities.
Examples of climate impacts already occurring include decimated oysters in Florida, a poor peach harvest in Georgia, and a lack of perch for midwestern fish fries. The dinner aimed to educate diners on both the problems and solutions, with attendees asking how to be better consumers and what role they could play.
'I want people to send a note to every friend in their email address book and tell them that we are at an existential hinge point,' Zimmern said. The hosts emphasised that spreading the message to policymakers is crucial, as the crisis threatens global food systems.
