Small restaurant owners and farmers in Western Pennsylvania are bracing for escalating climate change disruptions that could further strain their bottom lines.

Why it matters: Record heat, sharp temperature swings, and extreme weather hit small agricultural producers and businesses hard, as many operate on razor-thin margins.

• These shocks intensify existing pressures, from labor shortages and rising food costs to USDA staff reductions, SNAP cuts, tariffs and uncertainty in long-delayed farm bill protections, said Anne McBride, vice president of impact at the James Beard Foundation.

Driving the news: The James Beard Foundation yesterday hosted U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Aspinwall) and state lawmakers alongside chefs, small-business owners and farmers for a roundtable on the growing toll of climate change.

The big picture: As droughts, floods and other extreme weather events become more common, so does damage to crops, livestock and equipment.

• That affects food supply, quality and costs, rippling through the food system to restaurants and consumers, per a 2024 Global Food Institute report.

Case in point: Jason Oddo, co-founder of Verona-based Coldco Farm, which supplies produce to local chefs and restaurants, said last year's unusually heavy rain wiped out his pepper crops — a challenge many produce farmers faced.

• Ben Buchanan, founder of South Hills-based Unified Fields, said extreme temperature fluctuations take a toll on many of the cattle farmers he works with.
• Deluzio noted that local businesses are already reeling from more frequent flooding, damaging winds and power outages.

By the numbers: The restaurant industry is Pennsylvania's fourth-largest private employer, supporting more than half a million jobs and generating roughly $50 billion in sales last year, per the National Restaurant Association.

• The state's ag industry supports more than 593,000 jobs, per the Department of Agriculture.

What's next: Advocates are urging lawmakers to safeguard climate resilience funding as Congress restarts talks on a new federal farm bill.

Go deeper

Pittsburgh's biotech industry is ahead of the curve, per the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB).

Why it matters: The commission was created by Congress in 2022 to see how biotechnology can improve national security, and Pittsburgh's biotech sector wants to show it's worth federal investment and attention.

Driving the news: NSCEB commissioner Dov Zakheim and officials held a roundtable discussion yesterday in Bakery Square, and later met with Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor.

• They toured CMU's Biological and Chemical Innovation Cloud Lab nearby and Pitt's Bioforge in Hazelwood Green.

By the numbers: Congress is looking to direct $15 billion to boost biotech efforts across the country, per NSCEB executive director Caitlin Frazer.

What they're saying: Zakheim said Pittsburgh is a model place to invest, since it has a network of educational institutions spinning off private companies like Abridge and Krystal Biotech, and that ecosystem has the backing of local, state and federal policymakers.

• "You've got academia, you've got business, and you've got the state, if you direct that money properly, you're gonna get a huge payback," he said.

Zoom out: The global biotechnology market is estimated to grow from $1.77 trillion in 2025 to $5.71 trillion by 2034, per Precedence Research.

The bottom line

✂️ A Westmoreland County school district is among a growing number cutting ties with school picture company Lifetouch after parents raised concerns about the former CEO of an investment fund tied to the company's owner and his past association with Jeffrey Epstein.

• Lifetouch is not named in the Epstein files. The company says there's no evidence any student photos were accessed, and notes the firm purchased its parent company a month after Epstein's death. (WTAE / NBC)

🪿A popular Jim Thorpe-based gift shop, The Silly Goose, is coming to Downtown with help from Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's retail pop-up program ahead of the NFL Draft. (Next Pittsburgh)

A small but fast-growing share of Pennsylvania women are choosing solo motherhood later in life.

Why it matters: Births to unmarried women 40 and older have doubled since 2007 as more Americans rethink when and how to build their families.

By the numbers: In Pennsylvania, 1.1% of babies born in 2024 (1,395) were to unmarried women 40 and older, per CDC data — up from 0.49% (738) recorded in 2007, despite an overall decline in statewide births.

Yes, but: "Unmarried women" can include cohabitating couples.

The big picture: In the U.S., more than 1% of babies were born to unmarried women 40 and older in 2024.

• Overall, about 40% of babies are born to unmarried women.

Between the lines: When the international Single Mothers by Choice (SMC) support group was formed in 1981, adoption accounted for a larger share of members' paths to parenthood, says SMC director Kat Curtin — at a time when choosing to become a single mother was more widely stigmatized.

• Now, "there's more of a societal acceptance toward different family units, [including] single-parent households," she says. Many of their members are having children via fertility treatments, she added.

Reality check: Access to IVF and child care is still heavily income-dependent — and pregnancy isn't a guarantee even for women who freeze their eggs at a younger age.

Go deeper

North Hills native Ava McNaughton won a gold medal as part of Team USA women's hockey after the Stars and Stripes defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime yesterday in Milan.

The intrigue: McNaughton is the first Pittsburgh-area native to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics since the games began in 1924.

What's next: Other yinzer Olympians have a chance to secure gold this weekend in men's hockey and two-woman bobsled.