Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat

[Warpy]

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/263

A thought provoking talk on just what's wrong with the food pyramid and, by extension, the standard American died, S.A.D. indeed.

(Thanks to Blooinbloo for siccing me onto the TED site in a GD thread)

[yellerpup]

1. Mark Bittman is a good speaker on an important topic.

Americans are getting unhealthy on a diet of food substitutes rather than real foods. If we cut out processed foods altogether, (IMO) the cancer rate would plummet. If we limited ourselves to 4 oz. of meat three or four times a week, we could maybe get a handle on methane and groundwater pollution. Oh yeah, eat your veggies, too! Good link. Thanks.

Edit for misspelling

[Warpy]

3. I have his vegetarian cookbook

and I'd suggest it for anyone who needs the basics. I wish it had been out 40 years ago when I started cooking vegetarian meals several times a week.

It's plain food and won't impress a gourmand, but it gets the basic ideas across beautifully and with enough variations on all the themes to keep a cook busy for years trying them all out.

It's one of the cookbooks I think I'll keep long term, and that's high praise.

[tishaLA]

2. That's really a great talk

And I have to confess he said a lot of things I didn't know but should have.