I Forgot to Emit

If I write a NYT essay about food but don't send it around, does it make a sound?

I wrote my first NYT essay last week, about how we’re wiping out the homes of other species to grow food for our own species. Biodiversity is a simple problem: We’ve converted half the earth’s wild land into agricultural land, and that’s what’s created the worst mass extinction since an asteroid obliterated the dinosaurs. It’s mostly a meat problem: When we eat chicken and cows and other livestock, we might as well be eating macaws and jaguars and other endangered species. Anyway, I’ve heard my essay made a bit of a splash at the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal…which is now over. I forgot to send it to all of you, because I am a negligent Substacker.

Here's the essay.

When I set up this newsletter, I was really determined not to clutter up anyone’s inbox, but I think I’ve probably erred on the side of undercluttering. I’m super-proud of the work Tamar Haspel and I have been doing on Climavores, and I should probably be flacking it more. If you haven’t subscribed, please do. If you’re not sure if it’s for you, please check out our latest pod, where we talked about the future of cell-cultured meat with the brilliant YouTube science celebrity Hank Green.

Here's the pod.

I’m still mired in BookLand, but at some point in 2023 I plan to start emitting much more regularly. And I hope we can create a community of emitters. Until then though, I’m only going to use this Substack to send around my food and climate work—and I promise to do a better job sending around my food and climate work. I hope you all have a safe, happy and low-emissions holiday season, and I’ll see you in the new year.

Mike