In Cambridge, Massachusetts — a town best known for its elite universities — young grassroots climate activists are planting roots in the community. Ruti Pfeffer has persuaded Bhola Pandey, owner of the restaurant Base Crave, to add two new plant-based dishes to the menu as a way to help curb climate emissions. The effort is part of Eat for Impact — an initiative that has persuaded restaurants in 10 cities around the world to expand their menus with plant-forward offerings. Pfeffer has been working on this campaign as part of her fellowship with New Roots Institute, a group that helps young activists work on food system change.

The way we eat and farm is responsible for around a third of the world’s climate emissions, with most of that fraction fueled by meat, especially beef. Rising global temperatures are already testing the boundaries of human livability in many parts of the Global South, including India and Pakistan. Climate scientists have outlined the solutions, however, including cutting back on the meat and dairy we consume. One way to do that is to encourage people to eat more plants, with dishes like shiitake mushroom curry that are on the menu at Base Crave.

Base Crave is one of more than dozens of restaurants around the world to participate in the Eat for Impact campaign organized by food system advocacy group Planted Society. Through her New Roots Institute fellowship, Pfeffer became connected with Planted Society, the advocacy group that led the campaign that enrolled restaurants in cities like Austin and Los Angeles in the United States, and Abuja, Nigeria. Planted Society helped prepare the campaigners to contact the restaurants and city officials, providing them with a set of points to raise about the campaign.