Ep. 97: Mark Bittman

Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk

"We don't take food seriously enough. Children aren't taught what it means to grow food and what this is all about."

Beloved and authoritative food writer Mark Bittman, armed with a new book: Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal. The conversation, which goes in many directions, is not the typical food discussion. Far from just a string of kitchen techniques, charming recipes, and culinary advice from a great cook, Mark and Daniel go on a guided tour of the food system of this country— and address some longstanding problems as well. Why do cornfields only grow solely corn while a wild field in nature grows multitudes of different plants and flowers? How can we think about putting the planet’s well-being ahead of corporate agro profits? Mark puts food and agriculture in the greater context of the social issues he has been advocating for his entire life.

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Mark Bittman is the author of 30 books, including the How to Cook Everything series and the #1 New York Times bestseller VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good. He was a food journalist and columnist, opinion columnist, and the lead magazine food writer at the New York Times, where he started writing in 1984 and stayed for 30 years.

Bittman has starred in four television series, including Showtime’s Emmy-winning Years of Living Dangerously. He is a longtime TODAY regular and has made hundreds of television, radio, and podcast appearances, including on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, RealTime with Bill Maher, and CBS’s The Dish; plus NPR’s All Things Considered, Fresh Air, and Morning Edition.

Bittman has written for countless publications and spoken at dozens of universities and conferences; his 2007 TED talk, “What’s wrong with what we eat,” has almost five million views. He was distinguished fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He has received six James Beard Awards and an IACP Award.

Bittman is currently Special Advisor on Food Policy at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where he teaches and hosts a lecture series called Food, Public Health, and Social Justice. He is also the editor-in-chief of Heated.