The Blue Plate: A Food Lover's Guide to Climate Chaos is the latest book by ecologist Mark J. Easter. Did you know more than a quarter of the dangerous climate-heating greenhouse gas emissions produced around the world today come from the simple steps of growing, catching, processing, transporting and cooking food—and then dealing with leftovers? This alarming statistic motivated Easter to dramatically change what and how he and his family eat.

Easter researches the carbon footprint of food as part of a CSU team of “greenhouse gas accountants” whose mission is to understand how greenhouse gases move into and out of soils and plants on farms and ranches. He has traveled globally to collaborate with farmers, ranchers, foresters, and others to learn how the ways people grow food and fiber make agriculture healthier and less damaging to the climate.

Offering an education on how to eat in a way that nourishes both our bodies and the planet, he wrote The Blue Plate, the first book by a scientist to provide a detailed picture of the carbon impact of our favorite foods on the Earth.