It isn’t easy to keep up with all of the issues around food. Issues like GMO’s, food safety, diets and sustainable farming practices. The messages out there can be conflicting depending on who is delivering the message. Different government agencies have different opinions, some farmers don’t agree with each other and then there is the sensational half story you sometimes get from the news. So if you want more balanced information where can you turn.
Whether you are new to reading about these issues or you consider yourself extremely up to date and knowledgeable about the issues A Bone to Pick by Mark Bittman is a great place for you to land.
You might know Mark Bittman as the man behind, How to Cook Everything. You may, or may not, also know that he writes a weekly column in the food section of the New York Times. I unfortunately don’t have a daily subscription to the New York Times and don’t search out articles so I don’t catch a lot of his articles. Opening this book and realizing it is a compilation of these articles from 2011-2014 years was a pleasant surprise.
The book is divided into 6 chapters: Big Ag Sustainability, and What’s in Between; What’s Wrong with Meat; What is Food; The Truth about Diets; The Broken Food Chain; Legislating and Labeling. My favorites were the last two. I think these two topics are the ones I am most passionate about and reading these columns gave me more clarity, more information and sound answers to questions I was struggling to answer for myself. Questions that deal with whether I am a foodie, what should a food label look like and advertising junk food to kids.
What I loved about those chapters, and really all the chapters and every article, is that he doesn’t write alarmist journalism. Each article is passionate and informed, but none of them made me feel shame for eating certain foods and none of them made me feel like doomsday was just around the corner. Most of them made me feel like I have a choice in what our food system looks like from here, most of them made me feel like I could be part of the solution and all of them made me feel like he genuinely cares that this fight turns out well and that none of these issues are black and white.
One of my favorite quotes from the book came at the end and sums up how I felt after reading the book.
“The point is that no major food issue will be resolved in the next 10 years. As pioneers, we must build upon incremental progress and not be disheartened, because often there isn’t a quick resolution for complex issues…. So, let’s call for energy, action-and patience.”
That quote is from a column on January 1, 2013 and it rings true over two years later. Progress is being made. Sometimes it is one step forward two steps back, but it is there and it will continue if we all make educated choices about what we eat, who we vote for and what we are willing to accept as the norm. We need to all be part of the discussion so we can come to a solution for our broken and harmful food system. A system that isn’t just harmful to you and me, but also to future generations and the planet we live on.
If you are one of the pioneers that wants to change the food culture in our country and the world then this book is for you. If you want more information to find out if you too could be a pioneer this book is for you. It is well written, informative, rational and logical. It will give you an insight into the world of food that you didn’t have before. It certainly did for me and I counted myself among the highly educated on the issues surrounding our food.
If you would like to get the book and learn more you can purchase the book at Amazon through this affiliate link* A Bone to Pick: The good and bad news about food, with wisdom and advice on diets, food safety, GMOs, farming, and more
What is your biggest concern about the food we eat?
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. The opinions and ideas are my own.
*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.
Leave a Reply