Mark Bittman's Advice on Meat-Eating Blogging NPR

Confession time: Mark Bittman, author and food writer for the NY Times, is our new go-to guy. For Christmas, we received How to Cook Everything, and have literally referenced it every single day since then, most days on more than one occasion and sometimes when we're not even cooking. So when we saw that Bittman has a new book out and is advocating eating less meat, both to benefit the environment and personal health, we wanted to give him a virtual hi-five.

In this NPR story, Bittman explains that all industrial farming has an impact on the environment, but we can all take a step toward lessening that impact.

Bittman says it really comes down to cooking, so if you buy and cook your own, you tend to put much better things in your mouth. It's of course a bigger idea than that--he says one-fifth of global warming is caused by global production of meat, between the cow methane and the factories. And that's at the heart of his book: it's really all about the fact that you can't be environmentally conscious without re-evaluating what you eat.

We're fans of sustainable farming and can't seem to quite go full vegetarian (hello, Texas barbecue? Don't think we're giving that up.) ...So we're thinking this book is for us.

To top it off, there are recipes involved. How can it get any better than that? We're totally picking up a copy this weekend.

See Bittman talk about his new book at a signing here.

Comments (8)

I love Bittman. How to Cook Everything is insanely practical for both the amateur and expert cook.

ha, this is great - i also heard this interview on NPR. His books were a big Christmas gift hit - just about everyone in my family got one. Also, I got the vegetarian version (green) and BF got the standard (red).

Ha, I just posted about Mark Bittman, also! His books are great resources, and he sounds like a pretty cool guy to boot.

http://randomyummies.blogspot.com/2009/01/mark-bittman-on-npr.html

Does anyone find it strange that the two recipes that the NPR article printed included yogurt, butter, milk, and eggs in the ingredients? Last time I checked these were all animal products. Why single out meat but encourage dairy and egg consumption? The recipes do sound delicious though.

Wow - one fifth of global warming. I'm excited to check out this book!

update: true to my word, i've spent the weekend trying to find a copy of Food Matters. this book is apparently sold out in austin, much to my dismay. but i've got one on order from my favorite local book store, so i can't wait to pick it up next week.

This is the book I am currently reading. I am on page 85, and the actual text before the recipes begin ends around 118.

I like Bittman's writing as the NYTs Minimalist and love his effort for this book. He seems to struggle in his writing in the intro about government stats, industry trends, etc. It seems like he is still digesting the info he just researched. The writing gets so much better when he gets to his personal connection to these issues with some increasing health problems and how he altered his diet to lose weight. The recipes are great, simple, good food. His specialty.

I got the book mostly for his recipes and like his effort at the introduction. However for a book that combines food issues, health, and environment with recipes I still prefer Grub: A Guide to Urban Organic Living more. The best part about Bittman's book is that it won't freak people out that currently eat a lot of meat, he merely suggests a reduction of meat to 3 oz/ day. Recipes include bacon, etc.

I'm a vegetarian, but after years of reading and thinking through it, I don't think industrial farming will change without people still committed to eating meat, just eating less of it, and from local, small, earth/animal/people friendly farms. Same goes for eggs and dairy and other animal products.