Restaurant owners scramble after prices of essential ingredients skyrocket: 'That [cost] ... gets passed on to consumers'

It can be really disappointing when the item you've picked from a restaurant menu isn't available. But amid increasingly challenging conditions, your favorite dish soon might not be available at all.

What's happening?

The Boston Globe reported on the plight of Maine's restaurants, which are experiencing difficulties in sourcing produce that was once affordable and abundant.

Take Maine shrimp as an example. They were once offered by many eateries in the state, but warming waters off the Gulf of Maine have made it increasingly difficult for fisheries to catch these delicacies.

According to NOAA Fisheries, the population collapse of the shrimp has been attributed to higher ocean temperatures, which have encouraged longfin squid — a voracious shrimp predator — to hunt in the Gulf of Maine, where they previously weren't so common.

While shrimp is increasingly being sacrificed on restaurant menus, other staple ingredients are proving to be more and more expensive.

Crop failures as a result of unusual or extreme weather conditions are pushing prices up, with head chef of Leeward Jake Stevens telling the Globe that their preferred source of carrots, Bumbleroot Organic Farm, has had to increase the price of bags from $2 a pound to $4 a pound because of reduced yields.

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"That [cost] either gets passed on to consumers or we have to make tough decisions and not serve that stuff," Stevens observed.

Why are food shortages and price rises concerning?

Rising temperatures, as a result of human-caused global heating, can impact animal habitats, migration routes, and hunting grounds. This upends the food chain, as seen with the example of Maine shrimp, which can lead to decimated animal populations.

While this obviously means fewer shrimps are making it to restaurant tables, this can also have seriously detrimental effects on biodiversity and animal survival. The full impacts further down the line might not be fully realized for years to come.

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Meanwhile, as thermometers creep higher, extreme weather conditions become longer, stronger, and more likely. Flooding, for example, can wipe away crop fields, while drought conditions can make fruit and vegetable plants wither and die before producing expected produce.

That's not to mention that farmers have to adapt to temperature shifts, learning on the fly when it is best to plant crops that usually have a fairly regimented growth cycle.

Cocoa, rice, vanilla, and olives are among the many crops impacted by a shifting weather system.

While this is concerning for farmers and restaurants, supermarket shoppers are feeling the pinch as their weekly food shop comes with an increasingly higher bill.

What can be done about food shortages?

For popular crops, scientists are making use of various technologies, including AI, to make fruits and vegetables more resilient to changing temperatures.

But regarding animal habitats, especially in the ocean, change is perhaps more difficult to achieve, which is why we need to take major steps to slow the rate of rising global temperatures.

In both cases, it's essential that we reduce our personal polluting impact. We can do so in many ways, such as avoiding single-use plastic, walking or cycling instead of using a gas-guzzling vehicle, or shopping more sustainably.

But to enact greater change, write to your local representative to encourage a shift towards planet-friendly policies — especially if you live in the northeastern U.S. and miss seeing Maine shrimp on the menu.