You want to start the day with a meal that’s good for your body—and soon, you’ll have one that’s good for the planet too. Cascadian Farm has created a new cereal to help scale up production of Kernza—a new type of wheat that’s poised to turn traditional agriculture on its ear. Here’s how.

Must Read:How Your Food Choices Can Help Fight Climate Change

What Is Kernza?

The Importance of Perennial Grains

Perennials have several advantages over annuals. The biggest perk:Plants that live longer develop root systems that crawl deeper into the earth—we’re talking 10 feet underground. When plants take in carbon dioxide, that CO2 goes down into the roots and is buried in the soil (this is called carbon sequestration). Kernza’s deep, perennial root systems are able to trap—and keep—more of these harmful greenhouse gases underground and out of the atmosphere, making it an important tool for mitigating climate change.

“Consumers don’t always link food and the way we grow it with greenhouse gases and climate change,” says Maria Carolina Comings, marketing director for Cascadian Farm. “But 30 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system. For us at Cascadian Farm, it was imperative that we lead in finding a solution to how food can be a better part of the system.”

Why Cereal?

Because Americans already know and love it! Breakfast cereal is a $9 billion industry in the U.S., according to Euromonitor International, a market research company. And, honestly, the Honey Toasted Kernza flakes taste similar to many other wheat-based cereals you’d encounter at the grocery store—toasty, nutty, slightly sweet—and that was intentional. “We didn’t want to ask the consumer to make too many changes to the things that they’re used to,” says Comings. “You can’t have a climate impact if you’re trying to sell people something that they don’t want to buy. That’s not a realistic business proposition.”

And nutritionally, it’s a breakfast we can get behind. A 1-cup serving of cereal packs 6 grams of fiber and 25 grams of whole grains. And it’s only 180 calories, with 8 grams of added sugar—well within reason for a breakfast cereal.

More:How to Pick the Healthiest Breakfast Cereal

How Can You Get Your Hands on a Box?

Get More Grains

In addition to Cascadian Farm, other brands have been working on bringing this wheat to market. Patagonia Provisions has partnered with Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, Oregon, to develop Long Root Pale Ale and their new addition, Long Root Wit, a Belgian-style wit beer made with this perennial grain. The beer is sold at select Whole Foods and other independent groceries in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. Other companies brewing with this wheat are Bang Brewing in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Blue Skye Brewery in Salina, Kansas.

The grain is also starting to appear in restaurants, including The Perennial in San Francisco (you’ll read more about them in an upcoming issue ofEatingWellMagazine), Café Gratitude in Los Angeles, and Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

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