A bone to pick

I should mention that I'm a fan of Mr. Bittman's cookbooks, of which his “[b:The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living 7775632 The Food Matters Cookbook 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living Mark Bittman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347283843s/7775632.jpg 10682122]Food Matters Cookbook” is on my kitchen shelf. Not only do his cookbooks provide recipes that fit into his suggestion to eat more plants and fewer animal-based products while avoiding processed, sugary foods, but they also provide straight-forward techniques that made food preparation simpler. In other words, Mark Bittman walks what he talks.Here's the but. If you're read books like “[b:Fat Land 290624 Fat Land Greg Critser https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1173454730s/290624.jpg 1023108],” “[b:Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal 1097 Fast Food Nation The Dark Side of the All-American Meal Eric Schlosser https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388181135s/1097.jpg 2207547],” “[b:Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us 15797397 Salt Sugar Fat How the Food Giants Hooked Us Michael Moss https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361919312s/15797397.jpg 21520265],” “[b:Good Calories, Bad Calories 1820055 Good Calories, Bad Calories Gary Taubes https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320427468s/1820055.jpg 2449723],” [b:Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit 10222093 Tomatoland How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit Barry Estabrook https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347474148s/10222093.jpg 15121820],” or [a:Michael Pollan 2121 Michael Pollan https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1366396171p2/2121.jpg]'s books, you may find “A Bone to Pick” a bit sparse. However, if you haven't read those books, which I highly recommend doing, “A Bone to Pick” may be a good introduction. Each book, backed up by research and with sufficient detail has opened my eyes to different issues with America's food system and ways to change my everyday eating and food-buying habits. The point of Mr. Bittman's articles, of course, isn't to delve into the details that each of the aforementioned titles does, so it isn't quite fair to compare them.While I enjoyed Mr. Bittman's column in the “New York Times,” reading a compendium of his articles over a few days was a bit ho-hum. To be fair, I've had the same problem when reading other collections of articles or essays; I find it more compelling to read the news about a particular bill that is going through Congress or Wal-Mart's announcement to move towards healthier offerings and then read an op-ed piece deconstructing and opining on that issue. There's just not enough meat to these articles (har har har).It was odd that Mr. Bittman criticized First Lady Michele Obama's efforts both to support better food labeling, teaching children about gardening and cooking, and changing big business' behavior for being steps that are too small. In fact, her efforts and those of many others (including Mr. Bittman) to both expose deficiencies and offer solutions are making headway. The United States' food system is so gargantuan that it is unrealistic to expect overnight changes. It's better that someone try to switch from Wonder Bread to a multi-grain loaf than going straight to organic farro and fall off the wagon. My favorite pieces were about the sanctity of comfort or family foods, how those foods are tied to vivid memories, and how we may have to rethink what we hand down to the future. I also liked his criticism of the term, “foodie,” which I find quite irritating. The tone of some articles was a bit flip for my taste, but I still think that the book is worthwhile for those who are just learning more about ways to improve food selection, diet, and other food-related policies.