Michael Grunwald

Michael Grunwald

Michael Grunwald is a bestselling author and a former staff writer for The Washington Post, Time magazine, and Politico Magazine. He has won the George Polk Award for national reporting, the Worth Bingham Prize for investigative reporting, and many other journalism honors.

His forthcoming book, “We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate,” includes some reporting that first appeared in Canary, about topics ranging from Brazilian cattle ranches to chemical-free fertilizer to lab-grown meat.

Grunwald is also the author of two critically acclaimed earlier books, “The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise,” which was adapted for a PBS documentary, and “The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era,” which spent four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Grunwald is married to Cristina Dominguez, a former lawyer who is now a mind-body-spirit healer. They live in Miami with their son, Max, their daughter, Lina, and their deranged dogs, Cookie, Wags, and Wim.

The Latest from Michael Grunwald

Food and farms

We know how to decarbonize energy. The food sector should take notes.

Climate-friendly agriculture is two decades behind clean energy. Here are lessons food and farming can learn from the rise of renewables and cleantech.

By Michael Grunwald . 31 July 2025
Food and farms

Biden’s climate-smart ag program was better than nothing. Trump killed it.

In a climate-dumb move, the Trump administration ended a flawed but necessary program aiming to lower agricultural emissions. We can still draw useful lessons from it.

By Michael Grunwald . 4 June 2025
Food and farms

NYC hospitals are nudging patients toward plant-based meals. It's working.

New York City is cutting emissions and saving money by making vegetarian meals the default in public hospitals. It's successful because most people go with the flow.

By Michael Grunwald . 16 April 2025
Food and farms

The Trump climate story is boring — except this part

We won’t see national progress on clean energy policy over the next four years. But interesting things could happen in the food-climate nexus.

By Michael Grunwald . 20 March 2025
Food and farms

Chemical fertilizer is a climate disaster. Can high-tech biology fix it?

Startup Pivot Bio has developed a smarter way to get nitrogen to crops, and it has a new CEO who aims to supercharge growth.

By Michael Grunwald . 29 August 2023
Food and farms

Why vertical farming just doesn't work

Vertical farms save water, prevent pesticide pollution and avoid extreme weather — but their Achilles' heel is their massive electricity use.

By Michael Grunwald . 28 June 2023
Food and farms

Cattle are a huge climate threat. Smarter ranching can help

Ranchers in Brazil are testing new and improved techniques that can lower the climate impact of beef production by using less land and curbing cattle's burps and farts.

By Michael Grunwald . 17 April 2023
Food and farms

Afraid of high-tech food? Get over it

Too many Americans are squeamish about cultivated meat, alt-protein processed foods and GMOs, but we'll need to get used to them to avert a climate catastrophe.

By Michael Grunwald . 17 January 2023
Food and farms

What exactly is 'climate-smart agriculture'?

The new climate law will direct big bucks toward regenerative farming practices. But is that good climate policy?

By Michael Grunwald . 12 September 2022
Food and farms

3 smart ways the US can grow more food while emitting less carbon

A climate-friendly national food strategy would start with accelerating alternative proteins, reducing food waste and investing in agricultural innovation.

By Michael Grunwald . 8 August 2022