One remarkable way to make a difference

IEA, the energy watchdog for the world, is asking people to prepare for fuel shortages, “work from home, where possible,” they state. We should take this advice seriously and even go one step further. Here’s one remarkable way we can make a difference.

Order Now

Good Food, Healthy Planet is a Globe and Mail and National Post Top Cookbook of 2024

Get your copy:
🇨🇦 Amazon.ca | Indigo
🇺🇸 Amazon.com

"It's modern-day comfort when you want to nourish yourself and the planet." – Julie Van Rosendaal, The Globe and Mail

But first – happy New Year to those who celebrate Nowruz, Ugadi and the first day of spring in all the differently wonderful ways. With Eid also falling yesterday, this week marks an important celebration for many cultures worldwide.

We are 3+ weeks into an unnecessary and violent war by the US and Israel against Iran. I had written another version of this newsletter a few days ago, but with the ongoing war, world-level disruptions, and this most recent headline from the International Energy Agency (IEA), I needed to come back to my drafts and rewrite.

This newsletter has the ONE BIG STEP we can all take to contribute to a safer world.

A recap of the IEA Statement

On March 20, 2026, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a statement asking people to reduce their dependence on energy and to prepare for fuel shortages. “Work from home, where possible,” is 1 of their 10 recommendations. You can read the others in the article, but in general, they are asking people to reduce their usage of various forms of energy by cutting down on transportation, usage of LNG, and implementing emergency energy measures.

I would suggest taking this advice one step further – and prepare for fuel, food and everything else shortages.

A remarkable way to thrive despite shortages

With so much else that is going on, I wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss this headline. Because solutions are widely available, especially this one that’s surprisingly quick to adopt.

What’s the ONE BIG STEP to take today that can help us thrive in the long run, and it protects the local economy and makes our lifestyle more sustainable?

I am not saying this to scare you or force you to act out of fear. As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, that’s not my intention here. What I want to encourage us all to do is to consider what’s going on in the world, think long-term and be practical about the choices we make today.

Shop Local, Think Global

In Good Food, Healthy Planet, I call this imperative Shop Local, Think Global. It’s one of the 5 principles in the Eating with Benefits framework, and here I outline why this is an important step to take. It was crucial after COVID when I wrote the book, and it’s even more critical in the light of events today.

This is the time to support our local economy so that it (we) can withstand fuel and food shortages that are around the corner. In the book, I discussed how COVID and Russia’s War on Ukraine disrupted the supply chains for food, fuel and everything else. That was the trailer. The US-Israel war on Iran is going to disrupt our lives for a much longer time and cause shortages on a much larger scale. Most of us haven’t lived through this type of scarcity before, but we have heard stories, and thankfully, we have the skillsets we need to move through this time.

I will do an explainer video next week, but in the meanwhile, here’s the one BIG STEP again before you head out to the stores this weekend:

Shop Local. Support Local. Buy from Businesses, Farms, Markets, Producers, Manufacturers, and more. And while you’re there, choose seasonal and low-impact foods when possible.