I’m a little late with my book review this week (in fact, it’s now a whole other week), and that’s partly because I wasn’t quite sure how to approach this one. Not quite a cookbook, not quite a diet book (and thank God for that), and not quite a political manifesto, Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating is Mark Bittman’s attempt to roll all of these into one neat little package.

Inspired by Mark’s personal journey two years ago toward a healthier, more environmentally friendly diet, the book is divided into two (roughly) equal halves. The first deals with the state of the average American diet today, its health and environmental consequences, and the second is comprised of a collection of health-focused recipes, with an emphasis on whole grains and vegetables. 

In the first section, Mark discusses the global impact of a meat-based diet in terms of the use of resources and its effect on climate change. He also touches on the US government’s role in the nation’s eating habits, expressing concern over the choices behind the USDA guidelines. Also in this section, Mark looks beyond the “facts” of many food studies, and debunks several health and diet myths. 

So, did any of this change the way I think and eat? Well, not really- Mark is preaching to the choir here. I already gave up meat 15 months ago for many of reasons stated here, so I found myself more heartily agreeing with him than being swayed in any way. At the very least, Food Matters has provided me with many fascinating statistics with which to guilt my friends and family. (Did you know that 40 times more energy is required to produce one calorie of meat, as to produce one calorie of grain? My parents sure do.)

After this barrage of carefully executed complaints, the “diet” angle of the book comes into play. Mark discusses what he calls “sane eating”, and introduces us to his “vegan before 6 o’clock” method. At first, this prescriptive approach put me off a touch, but I realised that in pandering to the American diet-books market (and it’s a pretty huge one, I’d wager), Bittman is widening the audience for Food Matters considerably.

The second half of the book kicks off with four weeks of sample menus, covering meals, snacks and desserts for seven days a week. This is another example of Food Matters‘ prescriptive, diet-type approach, but I actually liked this. Not that I’ll be using Mark’s meal plans, but it is interesting to see just how varied a month of eating can be using these recipes. 

The 77 recipes included here are nothing new to me. Being a huge fan of Mark’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, I was pretty sure I’d seen most of them before. Divided into chapters for Basics, Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner and Desserts, they represent a best-of selection of Mark’s recipes; vegetarian for the most part, but some containing meat as well. It’s a great edit though, including both old favourites of mine (Anything Goes Granola, pg. 168) and new ideas I’d like to try (Crisp Nori Ribbons, pg. 227).

The recipes here have also been chosen for their simplicity, which I think goes along with the slight diet angle of the book. Practical for people who aren’t used to cooking, they rarely contain a long list of ingredients, or indeed any that are difficult to find. In that way, there’s sort of an “introduction to healthy cooking” vibe here. 

The only problem I have with the recipe section of Food Matters is that it looks like the rest of the book. That is to say, there are no photos or any visual treats to entice the reader. From a design perspective I understand this and even agree that photos would be out of place here, but from a cooking one, I’d like something to convince me that Roasted Herb-Stuffed Vegetables (pg. 272) are worth making. 

I really liked this book. As a cookbook alone it probably wouldn’t get top marks, since the recipes, though delicious, are simple in nature with not a lot of variety. Those interested in making a real leap into vegetarian cooking would do better to invest in Mark’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian instead. But as an interesting read, or a tool for anyone wanting to improve their health and the health of the planet, I would definitely recommend Food Matters.