Sensory Cookbook for a Warming Climate: A recipe book for creating scent, color, and other delectables from a future landscape

Jean Brennan, jbrennan@pratt.edu

Graduate Communications Design
Online Only

The ‘Sensory Cookbook for a Warming Climate’ invites multi-sensory appreciation for the plants that will likely thrive in a future landscape. This recipe book is not a chef’s text, but rather one produced by an artist, a designer, an herbalist, and a chemist. We ask—what might the future look, smell, and taste like? And invite a speculative and scientific inquiry to learn more. We have chosen nine species predicted to do well in a warming climate in the northeast. The Climate Change Atlas, experimental forest research and ethnobotanical uses inform the selection. The plants, as well as processes such as harvesting and extracting dye, are photographed as available by season. This process is being documented as a risograph-printed DIY recipe book for art and design students; anyone interested in climate change, ecology and art; and, the general public. We chose the cookbook form because of its accessibility, playfulness, and STEM engagement potential. Our team is Janneane Blevins, MFA Candidate, Graduate Communications Design; Jean Brennan, Adjunct Professor CCE, Graduate Communications Design; and, Cindie Kehlet, Chair Math & Science; with essays contributed by an ecologist and herbalist, Sarah Elisabeth.