Giusto Gusto

Hey food junkies. A couple weeks ago I wrote about my current top tv shows and Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist was high on the list. Bittman is a writer above anything else having written a small army of cook books including the NY Times Best Seller How To Cook Everything.

Since I’ve been watching his show on the Times website so much I thought I’d delve into Mark Bittman’s (right, next to my chubby hero) new book and see what the hilarious Bronx native had to say on the subject of our Nations diet in Food Matters.

Good News: It makes complete sense and offers a lot of sound advice. Bad News: It’s very repetitive and a bit one note. Lets discuss in further detail, shall we?

Food Matters is a combination diet/recipe/research book. Split in two, you are first barraged with a hail-storm of percentages, laws, USDA regulations, and shocking insights into America’s agriculture and food consumption. It’s obvious our country (along with plenty others, I’m looking at you England) have a serious food problem. Every Wendy’s, McDonalds, and Burger King that opens is another step backwards in the health and progress of our Nations youth and their understanding of food. That much we know. But like so many drunken arguments between college freshman weeks after starting their sociology or philosophy classes, the onslaught of numbers and outrageous claims is often misconstrued and counter productive to the actual argument (if there’s an actual argument at all…).

Bittman explains just how misunderstood and confused nutritionalist and scientist alike are about the way foods are labeled, processed, deconstructed, and ultimately boiled down to a small nutritional facts chart. He writes, ” The USDA has consistently favored individual and corporate profits over public health.” In short: Trust No One! The labels, fat free, cage free, organic regulations – Fake! Not entirely, but Bittman, thru careful research, explains that a large majority of the labels and health benefits claimed by various products are rarely what they claim to be, often only a small percentage of the actual product or the way it’s manufactured.

So shit, what do we do, eat grass and shoot squirrels in the backyard for dinner? Fear not, for Bittman has a safe and “sane” way to eat better, loose weight, save money, and help ole’ mother earth and our country! Sound too good to be true? Maybe, but I find it hard to argue with his 4-pronged montra:

1. Eat Less Meat (and fewer animal products in general)

2. Eat Fewer Refined Carbs (basically anything with All Purpose Flour)

3. Eat Way Less to No Junk Food (soda, chips, fast food, etc.)

4. Eat Far More Veggies

#4 is the most important and something Bittman urges time after time after time…after time…after time. It’s very repetitive, but at least he’s saying the right thing. He’s not a vegetarean and I’ll never be one, but it is true that man was not meant to eat 2lbs of meat everyday. We’re just not built to handle that much protein, we don’t burn enough calories.

The second half of the book is a full month-long calendar of recipes with 3-4 new and exciting options everyday. They are just like Bittman’s recipes in the Times: quick, easy, and most importantly delicious.

What I may have enjoyed most about this book is Bittman’s explanation of how our bodies process food and the caloric intake of Carbs, Proteins, Sugars and the like. For example, “Spinach has more than twice as much protein per calorie than a cheeseburger.” Are you going to eat a pile of spinach between two buns instead? No, but if you substitute veggies for the majority of your protein during the week you are promised to shed pounds, gain energy, save money, and decrease the carbon footprint of Big Ag (as Bittman affectionately calls the agricultural “Man”).

To sum up: Eat more veggies, eat less meat and you’ll be a healthier human being. It’s not rocket science. It’s the way just about everyone else on earth eats and no wonder we’re one of the few countries with a growing weight and diabetes epidemic.

Food Matters is a smart, intriguing book full of helpful facts, careful research, steady explanations, and countless recipes to help the everyday American transform the way they eat and the way they look at food altogether. Tho repetitive and similar to a dull college lecture at points, Mark Bittman has done a great thing by breaking down the complexity and confusion of the worlds Agricultural madness and brought his love of food to the front lines.

The book is obviously targeted towards the tentative house wife, the culinary impaired 20-something with basic instructions on pantry items and how to grocery shop, but I think everyone will learn a thing or two and gain a new appreciation for their health and the foods they choose to eat after reading Food Matters.

My Vote: Sure

Go grab a copy (on Ebay if you can) and tell me what you thought.