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 journalis ...

, 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 d ...

''. 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, 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 ''

'', 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 included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

''. His column, "The Minimalist," ran in ''

'' 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 ...

'' 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''. 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'' and was featured alongside Gwyneth Paltrow 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 and corporate farming 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

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. ...

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, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. 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

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Video: Voting with your mouth with Mark Bittman and Ezra Klein

at 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