Earth Day Eating: “Food Matters”

Posted by Katie Elzer-Peters
April 21st, 2011
Filed in Organic Book Reviews
Tags: books, fruit, vegetables

If you regularly read this blog, you know I’m a bookworm.  So, in honor of upcoming Earth Day, and (GASP!) my Birthday, I’m reviewing the great new book by Mark Bittman  Food Matters.  I heard Mark interviewed on NPR right around the time the book came out and thought “That sounds interesting.” Right now, I’m working on a big “grow your own food” project, and have been investigating the health benefits of different foods, growing your own foods, etc.  While Food Matters is not really about growing your own food, it is about how to eat for better health and to help the environment.  That makes this review a great follow-up to my “Gardening to Save the Earth” post.

A Practical Application of “In Defence of Food”

Now that I’ve finished reading Food Matters, I’m reading Michael Pollen’s book In Defense of Food for the same project.  On the cover of that book is Pollen’s current mantra:  Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.  What’s great about Bittman’s book (aside-don’t you love it that a food writer is named bittman?  I do.) is that he gives some of the information and statistics found in other books about eating a mostly plant based diet, but then he tells you how to do that.  It is great to know that growing your own food or eating more grains than meat reduces carbon emissions.  But, how do you eat more grains and less meat?  What do you eat, besides oatmeal?  Oat groats.  That is my new favorite word. I could say it all day long: oat groats, oat groats, oat groats.

Oat groats are pretty much the same thing as oatmeal, but they aren’t rolled, so they aren’t flat.  They also have all of the good stuff left in them-fiber, etc.  They are healthy, when simmered in water with just a pinch of salt, and don’t have all of the preservatives and sweetners of most store-bought oatmeal.  Plus, they are CHEAP.  I bought enough oat groats for my husband and me to eat once a day for five days for ONE DOLLAR at my local Co-Op.  You can add almost anything to them-make them sweet or savory.  I remembered that part of the interview on NPR, so that was the first practical thing I implemented after reading the book.  I remember Bittman telling the host that he could survive on “dressed up oatmeal” if necessary.

Easy Recipes that Actually Look Good

Does it make you a wacko if you eat oat groats?  Not any more!  Because being “Green” is all the rage, nobody changing their life to save themselves and save the earth will be pestered.  That’s great news.  The better news is that it is possible to eat food, not too much, mostly plants and still enjoy your food!  That’s a central premise of both books.  Stop looking at “nutrients” and start eating food.  You’ll have fewer weight problems, and less dietary headache when you eat food, not too much, mostly plants because the foods have high nutrient density per calorie eaten.  (That’s a fancy way of saying that fruits and vegetables take up a lot of space in the fridge, give you the essential nutrients, but don’t have tons of calories.)

How do these recipes sound for heathy yumminess?

• Roasted vegetables
• Root vegetable chips
• Brown bag popcorn
• Impromptu Fried Rice
• Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
• Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Pan-Grilled Corn
• No Bake Fruit Tarts
• Nutty Oatmeal Cookies
• Super-Simple Sorbet

And, I can assure you, the list of ingredients is not 30 items long.  You can find everything at your local grocery story or Co-Op, and I doubt you’d go away hungry after eating these. I love to watch Rachel Ray, but I can’t deal with her recipes that require visiting six different grocery stores and having a kitchen the size of my house.  (She says her meals are 30 minutes, but that’s after you have assembled an aresenal of hard to find herbs, spices, plants, meats, pans, etc.)

Lose Weight; Feel Great

I have tried every diet around.  I have tried every exercise plan.  I have, literally, tried everything to find a balance for my life in terms of eating, exercise and budget.  I’m liking this book more and more every day because it describes a way of eating that will help my health, my budget and the environment in one fell swoop, and while Bittman says you’ll probably lose weight eating this way, it isn’t a diet, it is a way of living.  Normally.  With actual yummy, real, whole food.  And plants.  The beginning of the book is a little scary-numbers of any sort usually are, but it sets up a good argument for trying the recipes in the back.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes to eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Or, anyone who likes to eat.

{this article was originally published in 2009}