Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating

  • Type: Books
  • By: Mark Bittman
  • Age Category: Adults
  • Genre: Non-Fiction
  • Recommended by: Eric S.
  • ISBN/UPC: 9781416575641
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If you are concerned about your health and the relationship between what you eat and its effect on the environment and animal welfare, this is a good book for you.

In Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating food writer Mark Bittman touches on three societal problems – animal cruelty, environmental sustainability, and obesity - by looking at what the typical American eats. He argues that as a society we eat too much meat and processed foods and not enough fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Our diet has had a devastating effect on the environment as well as our health.

To combat these issues, Bittman recommends that concerned citizens should try to adopt what he calls “Sane Eating.” The diet he outlines in the book is not one that is complicated or requires extreme sacrifice. In the second part of the book, Bittman offers recipes based on this diet.

I like this book because its focus is on moderation. While becoming a vegetarian or vegan is admirable, not everyone has the will-power to do it. Meat is ubiquitous in our culture. So even limiting its intake may be difficult for some. The author presents a sensible diet that allows readers to feel that they can do their part to make the world a better place by the food choices that they make each day.