Food Matters A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes
Food Matters A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes
From the award-winning champion of culinary simplicity who gave us the bestselling How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian comes Food Matters, a plan for responsible eating that’s as good for the planet as it is for your weight and your health.
We are finally starting to acknowledge the threat carbon emissions pose to our ozone layer, but few people have focused on the extent to which our consumption of meat contributes to global warming. Think about it this way: In terms of energy consumption, serving a typical family-of-four steak dinner is the rough equivalent of driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home.
Bittman offers a no-nonsense rundown on how government policy, big business marketing, and global economics influence what we choose to put on the table each evening. He demystifies buzzwords like “organic,” “sustainable,” and “local” and offers straightforward, budget-conscious advice that will help you make small changes that will shrink your carbon footprint — and your waistline.
Flexible, simple, and non-doctrinaire, the plan is based on hard science but gives you plenty of leeway to tailor your food choices to your lifestyle, schedule, and level of commitment. Bittman, a food writer who loves to eat and eats out frequently, lost thirty-five pounds and saw marked improvement in his blood levels by simply cutting meat and processed foods out of two of his three daily meals. But the simple truth, as he points out, is that as long as you eat more vegetables and whole grains, the result will be better health for you and for the world in which we live.
Unlike most things that are virtuous and healthful, Bittman’s plan doesn’t involve sacrifice. From Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing to Breakfast Bread Pudding, the recipes in Food Matters are flavorful and sophisticated. A month’s worth of meal plans shows you how Bittman chooses to eat and offers proof of how satisfying a mindful and responsible diet can be. Cheaper, healthier, and socially sound, Food Matters represents the future of American eating.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Healthy Nutrition
The book “Food Matters” is a comprehensive, textbook-like compilation of useful information on healthy nutrition. It’s easy reading – not bogged down with mumbo-jumbo.
5 Stars The perfect Pollan companion
Maybe you, like I, have read all Michael Pollan’s books about food. Maybe you’ve even read The China Study. But whether you’ve read all of these or none of these, Bittman’s book will be engrossing and enlightening without being repetitive. This was a quick, enjoyable read that — bonus! — I can put into practice with Bittman’s recipes. Love this book.
3 Stars Simple to follow
Very simple to follow and could be summarized as: Eat less animals and more vegetables. Not sure about the recipes. Tried making the whole wheat flat bread and was not what I expected. Heavy not light. Does not use yeast or baking powder so how can you get air bubbles? Would have liked a more in depth book with more sophisticated recipes…
5 Stars A very important book for our times
I love the way he simply presents the facts, and there’s no bullying or political correctness to deal with, although some of that is necessary. I haven’t gotten to the recipes but I will most certainly try to make some small changes in the way I eat as a result of reading just the first part of the book.
Americans are too fat and by making a few changes in our daily intake we can change the world. What a concept.
5 Stars Good purchase
I have other cookbooks by Mark Bittman and enjoy his recipes. I got this book to learn more about the health of the food we eat every day. But I really enjoyed his insight into how our society and our food chain interact. His economic observations are enlightening and his style thought provoking.
