Mark Bittman (born February 17, 1950) is an American food
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, author, and former columnist for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Currently, he is a fellow at the
Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit science advocacy organization based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor of Environmenta ...
. Bittman has promoted VB6 (Vegan Before 6:00), a
flexitarian
Flexitarianism or Flexitarism is a semi-vegetarian diet in which people do not eat meat one or more days a week.
A semi-vegetarian diet (SVD), also called a flexitarian, is one that is centered on plant foods with the occasional inclusion of ...
diet.
Career
Bittman is a journalist, food writer, and author of 30 books, including the bestselling ''
How to Cook Everything
''How To Cook Everything'' (John Wiley & Sons, 1998, ) is a general cooking reference written by ''New York Times'' food writer Mark Bittman and aimed at United States home cooks. It is the flagship volume of a series of books that include sever ...
'' and ''VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00''. He has been the recipient of
International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States-based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage.
History
The organizati ...
,
Julia Child
Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...
, and
James Beard
James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 23, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, ...
awards for his writing.
Bittman was an Opinions columnist for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', a food columnist for the paper's Dining section, and the lead food writer for ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...
''. His column, "The Minimalist," ran in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' for more than 13 years; the final column was published on January 26, 2011. He also hosted a weekly "Minimalist" cooking video on the ''New York Times'' website.
Bittman is a regular guest on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...
'' and the
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
shows ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'' and ''
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me
''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' is an hour-long weekly news radio panel show produced by WBEZ and National Public Radio (NPR) in Chicago, Illinois. On the program, panelists and contestants are quizzed in humorous ways about that week's news. It ...
''. He appeared as a guest judge on the
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
competition series ''
Chopped Chopped can have the following meanings:
* Chopped and screwed
Chopped and screwed (also called screwed and chopped or slowed and throwed) is a music genre and technique of remixing music that involves slowing down the tempo and deejaying. It ...
'' and was featured alongside
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...
and
Mario Batali
Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and ...
in a PBS series called ''
Spain... on the Road Again'' in 2008. In 2014, Bittman appeared as a correspondent for the climate change documentary show ''
Years of Living Dangerously
''Years of Living Dangerously'' is an American documentary television series, spread over two seasons, focusing on climate change. The first season, consisting of nine episodes, was broadcast on Showtime in 2014. The second season, consisting ...
''.
In 2015, Bittman announced he would be leaving the ''New York Times'' to join ''
Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot is a Massachusetts-based, and 100% plant-based meal kit company. Purple Carrot offers both prepared meals as well as meal kits to subscribers weekly. As stated from an article in Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food an ...
'' (which subsequently received press for its partnership with
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...
) as its chief innovation officer.
Books
Bittman has written and co-written 16 books and cookbooks. Bittman's most recent cookbook, ''How to Cook Everything Fast'', was released October 7, 2014. In 2005 he published the books ''The Best Recipes in the World'' and ''Bittman Takes on America's Chefs'', and hosted the Public Television series ''Bittman Takes on America's Chefs'', which won the
James Beard Award
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...
for best cooking series.
In 2007 he published ''How to Cook Everything Vegetarian''. In 2009 he published the book ''Food Matters'', which covers food-related topics such as environmental challenges, lifestyle diseases, overproduction and over-consumption of meat and simple carbohydrates. He also began the TV series ''Kitchen Express''. Bittman has written the books ''The Minimalist Cooks at Home'', ''The Minimalist Cooks Dinner'' and ''The Minimalist Entertains''.
In 2010 Bittman created ''The Food Matters Cookbook,'' an expansion of the principles and recipes in his prior book. In 2021, he published ''Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal'', in which he argues that
free market capitalism
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ...
and
corporate farming
Corporate farming is the practice of large-scale agriculture on farms owned or greatly influenced by large companies. This includes corporate ownership of farms and selling of agricultural products, as well as the roles of these companies in influ ...
contribute to the major public health and environmental issues in modern agriculture.
VB6
Bittman has authored ''VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00'' (2013) and ''The VB6 Cookbook'' (2014), where he recommends a
flexitarian
Flexitarianism or Flexitarism is a semi-vegetarian diet in which people do not eat meat one or more days a week.
A semi-vegetarian diet (SVD), also called a flexitarian, is one that is centered on plant foods with the occasional inclusion of ...
diet. The idea behind VB6 is to eat
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...
food before 6pm and any food afterwards while limiting processed foods.
The
British Dietetic Association
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) is a professional association and trade union for dietitians in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1936 and became a certified union in 1982: it is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress and the Scott ...
named the VB6 diet as one of the "Top 5 Worst Celebrity Diets to Avoid in 2015".
Personal life
Bittman is a graduate of
Stuyvesant High School (1967) and
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...
.
["Mark Bittman Defects to Berkeley From NYC, Launches Online Video Series," ''Eater.com'' June 8, 2015]
/ref> He lived in Berkeley, California from 2015 to 2017. He has two adult daughters from a prior marriage. Bittman runs marathons and is a licensed pilot. He now lives in Cold Spring, New York.
Bittman is Judaism, Jewish, and his grandparents emigrated from Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. He claims to follow his VB6 diet."Why I’m Not a Vegan"
''The New York Times''. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
Quotes
References
External links
*
Video: Voting with your mouth with Mark Bittman and Ezra Kleinat EG Conference in 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bittman, Mark
1950 births
Living people
American cookbook writers
American food writers
American male journalists
American television chefs
American male chefs
Place of birth missing (living people)
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
The New York Times writers
Clark University alumni
Stuyvesant High School alumni
Diet food advocates
James Beard Foundation Award winners
Chefs from New York (state)
21st-century American journalists
20th-century American journalists
Aviators from New York (state)
Jewish American writers
Jewish American chefs
Jewish American journalists
People from Cold Spring, New York
21st-century American Jews
Chefs from Berkeley, California
Vegetarian cookbook writers