Mark Bittman’s talk is entitled “The Future of Food,” about the intersection of food, politics, the environment, and personal health. He’ll discuss “non-foods, like soda, and their impact, as well as how policy pushes foods, like wheat, meat, and dairy, that may be in no one’s best interests.” Plus he’ll discuss “the sticks and carrots that we need to move out of this mess.”
Chip Giller, President and Founder of Grist, will moderate the Q&A following Mr. Bittman’s talk.
Mark Bittman has been a journalist for over 40 years and a professional food writer since 1980. In 1987 he became the senior writer, later editor, of Cooks Illustrated, and in 1990 started writing for the New York Times where, until recently, he had a weekly column, “The Minimalist.” He now blogs for the NYT’s online column “Opinionator.” Bittman is the author of several books, including How to Cook Everything (1998), The Food Matters Cookbook (2010), and How to Cook Everything, The Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food (2012). He has hosted PBS series such as Spain: On the Road Again, with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow, Bittman Takes On America’s Chefs, and The Best Recipes in the World.
In 2009, Bittman published Food Matters, which explored the crucial connections between food, health, and the environment. Related to Michael Pollan’s dictum “Eat food; not too much; mostly plants,” Bittman says to eat “More plants, no junk, less meat.” In a recent blog, “A Food Manifesto for the Future,” Bittman put forth several ideas “that would make the growing, preparation and consumption of food healthier, saner, more productive, less damaging and more enduring,” such as “end government subsidies to processed food; begin subsidies to those who produce and sell actual food for direct consumption; and encourage and subsidize home cooking.”
Most Sundays, Bittman can be found in the food section of the New York Times Magazine where he focuses on how to prepare home-cooked meals using a few ingredients that are both healthy and delicious.
SAL thanks Community Partners Full Circle, Mrs. Cook’s, PCC Farmland Trust, and PCC Natural Markets and In-kind Donor Finn River Farm & Cidery.
