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Climate change isn’t just altering the landscapes, it’s changing how our food tastes. The changes in weather conditions are looming over the flavors of the food we know and love. Causing authorities to face unprecedented challenges, pushing many producers to adapt or create instant solutions to avoid alteration in taste, reports National Geographic.
The concept of terroir (fancy for incorporating ecological factors and social practices) defines the flavor of our favorite foods. Fluctuations in temperature, moisture, soil, and pests influence the chemical composition of food, eventually impacting the flavor. Edible plants that affect meat flavors are decreasing. Southwest Spain’s Iberian Black pig’s distinctive flavor, for instance, is a result of their diet of acorns and other shrubs in their surroundings. In comes climate change, causing heat waves and droughts on the Iberian Peninsula and eventually shrinking the production of these plants. Feeding the pigs different food sources means that the flavor that patrons expect to taste has changed.
Remember the salers cheese uproar? This premium French cheese is losing its stamp of approval from the AOP Cheese Association due to the changes in the weather. Warmer temperatures in the summer mean less grass, which should form 75% of a cow’s diet to produce the milk that makes salers cheese.
No food is safe.Studies have shown that temperature variations can significantly impact the sweetness and acidity of strawberries. In the water, warmer temperatures or increased salt levels bring on a risk of diseases and mortality in oysters. Even tea producers in Yunnan province, China, grapple with extreme droughts affecting the quality of their products.
But producers are taking new measures to adapt and mitigate the effects. Matt Schwab, the owner and farmer at Hold Fast Oyster Co., is looking to explore options like deeper water farming. The French, where cheese comes after country, the government is considering relaxing strict regulations amid heat-induced pasture and barn issues.
