About this title: From the award-winning guru of culinary simplicity and author of the bestselling "How to Cook Everything" and "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" comes a plan for responsible eating that's as good for the planet as it is for the waistline.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781416575641ISBN:1416575642
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2008-12-30
ISBN-13:9781416575641ISBN:1416575642
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781416575641. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781416575641ISBN:1416575642
Description: New. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 326 p. Contains: Illustrations. Brand new with no marks, blemishes or wear. We don't sell shopworn or remaindered books as new-you'll be delighted with the pristine condition of this book. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781416575641ISBN:1416575642
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781416575641ISBN:1416575642
Description: New in new dust jacket. Signed by author. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 326 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. SIGNED BY AUTHOR on title page. First Edition/First Printing. New book, opened only for signing. Brodart protected. Ships in a box. read more
Edition: 1st edition
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781416575641ISBN:1416575642
Description: New. From the award-winning guru of culinary simplicity and author of the bestselling "How to Cook Everything" and "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" comes a plan for responsible eating that's as good for the planet as it is for the waistline. read more
"Eddie and I love watching the "Minimalist" cooking shows on the New York Times website. The recipes are interesting, delicious, and are simple: his cooking philosophy is good ingredients cooked well. I figured I'd check out Mark Bittman's book, Food Matters, since we like the videos so well.
I can summarize the entire book in just one sentence: It is better for the environment, your health, and your weight to eat fewer animal products like meat, milk, and cheese and more plants: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. If you're intrigued about the evidence backing this statement, then you'd like the book.
I know all about the benefits of fresh produce, so the book wasn't really all that shocking. There was some really interesting information about how the government came up with the food pyramid and just how useless it is. (Why do meat and dairy have separate categories but not fruits and vegetables? How come the "grains" category includes both whole grain bread and doughnuts?) I did learn some new information about the environmental aspects of beef, but really the most useful part of the book were the tips he had about implementing a plant-based diet. His trick was to eat nothing but plants until dinner, where he added in meat and dairy. Something about this plan has been really helpful: it is easier to have no crackers at lunch than it is to limit myself to only one handful.
I tried his "vegan until sundown" rule and lost 2.5 pounds last week, so I'm feeling very good about Food Matters."
"Here's the scoop. If you're interested in the pure ideas behind the problems with food production in the first world, read books like Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation" or Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Those books are heavy on ideas and facts. If you want a great food-conscious memoir, read Barbara Kingsolver's excellent "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."
What's left is this book. It's not particularly strong as an expose of modern food practices, nor does it excel as memoir. Instead, it's a practical guide to improving your eating - no more, no less.
If you want a book that will change your way of thinking about food, this isn't it - the great *ideas* are in the two books listed above. This book is just a very solid follow-up from a writer who knows how to explain how to cook things - after all, he did write the "How to Cook Everything" cookbooks.
Most of this book is actionable and approachable. It's not world-changing itself, but serves as a great "starter's guide" for people really concerned with modern food practices and want to find a new way for themselves and their family. It accomplishes that goal quite well."
"I enjoyed this book even though I'm not sure it had a lot of unique advice to give. I did think the 77 or so recipes at the back was a super bonus.
Bittman does a good job at setting the historical record straight on certain matters. Basically, humans have historically eaten meat (and other foods that have a high number of calories per gram) as often as they could. The trick being is that for most of human history it was harder (or too expensive) to get so we ate it in reasonable amounts. Now that's it easier to get and cheaper (often cheaper because it's lower quality) we eat too much of it.
Bittman also talks about the environmental effects of raising livestock to meet current (and rising demands) and points out that the only possible way to stop factory farming is to eat less meat because the demand is so high right now that we wouldn't be able to supply enough meat naturally.
Bittman makes all sorts of great arguments from every angle and frames it well as a sane alternative. I buy it and I believe it but I haven't bought in yet (reflective of my eating habits). I'm not sure why. Possibly a conditioning and self control thing or simply inertia but a lot of interesting cases in this book."
"Having read Bittman's New York Times articles for years, I felt like Food Matters was Bittman for Dummies. Maybe not everyone is interested in reading about study after study, but that is what I am interested in, and what I had expected from this book. (I may be a little out of the norm... I also read Livestock's Long Shadow... the report). Instead, in Food Matters, he summarizes all of the studies about the environment, glosses over basics of nutrition, and explains the history of farm policy and agrobusiness, in just over 100 pages.
That being said, I agree with what he is saying, I have eaten this way for a long time for these reasons (he's a little bit of a late-comer; sorry, Mark), and I hope that this digestible form will inform and attract the masses. I also was introduced to commodity boards (ex: "Got Milk?)-- scary!
If you already have a basic idea about food issues or have ever read a Michael Pollan book, skip Food Matters and read Bittman's Times articles from 2005 through present, available free on the Times website."
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