Mark Bittman’s Culture of Food

There are a lot of celebrity chefs out there — Anthony Bourdain, Gordon Ramsay, Jaimie Oliver, and Ina Garten to name only some, but few of them have done more for the everyday eating habits of Americans than Mark Bittman. He is the leading food critic and writer for The New York Times and has been at the center of the food trends, habits and traditions of Americans for the last 20 years.

His self-proclaimed ethos is to make food understandable. His cookbooks and interests range from how to cook everything, bake everything and live vegan for most of the day. Where does he stand on food? Bittman is a staunch critic of the Standard American Diet, rooted in processed foods found either in the supermarket or at fast-food restaurants. His critique of this diet came through personal experience when he himself was forced to change his eating habits for health reasons. In order to do so, he adopted a diet that required him to eat only plant-based food before 6 p.m. and anything he wanted for dinner. He found quality plant-based foods are far superior to anything else. And by going vegan for most of the day, he tricked himself into better health while having his cake and eating it too.

He has written more than 20 books that clearly conspire with the reader to revolutionize their food choices. There is no shortage of vegan and vegetarian recipes in his library. The New York Times food pages and his own website offer valuable recipes and tips as well. If you want to rethink your food choices, but do not want to make it complicated, pick up a copy of either How to Cook Everything or Vegan before Six and get started.