NOURISH YOUR BODY
My Hero, Mark Bittman
Inspiration and Purpose Over the Decades
I
first encountered Mark Bittman when he was a NY Times food columnist and his book The Minimalist had just been published. Since then, he has won every foodrelated award imaginable and has been in the vanguard of exploring plantbased food as a lifestyle since 2015. His more than 30 books include my go-to when I want basic approaches to pretty much anything: How to Cook Everything—Simple Recipes for Columnist Mark Bittman. Photo by Larry D. Moore Great Food. (I grew up with The Joy of Cooking. While it is hard to let go writing is approachable, lively, and of, I find even the recent edition feels passionate. I believe it’s one of the outdated and not as easy to follow as important books of our times. Bittman.) This past year, which we all As he says in the book’s BY REBECCA have our own words to describe, introduction, “Anyone can CRICHTON has resulted in Bittman’s latest cook, and most everyone online endeavor, The Bittman Project, should.” He emphasizes buying things a membership organization that that are fresh and local, a dictum we includes recipes, profiles of chefs and now take for granted, as the way to other food-related practitioners, videos, start making good food. But he warns and member-generated interactive against making yourself crazy doing conversations. it. “…You buy the best ingredients you A recently added regular feature can lay your hands on and combine shares low-cost recipes that feed a them in ways that make sense. That’s family. If you’ve ever wanted to make the thinking behind my recipes.” seitan—or find out what’s even in it— His newest nonfiction, no-recipes this is your chance! book, Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A My growing appreciation of Bittman History of Food, from Sustainable to and the importance of his work relate Suicidal lays out the narrative of how to two aspects of his work. First, I we got to this perilous time in our like his approach to food. He is not history as consuming humans. His
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3rd Act magazine | fall 2021
attached to giving recipes that need to be followed to perfection. He has those, of course, although there is always the additional encouragement to play around with ingredients, like substituting different herbs, different sweeteners or oils, different proteins, or starches. For older people who grew up believing there is only one way—a right way—to make certain things, this can be unsettling. Yet, once you know how to think about food with knowledge and curiosity, Bittman can be your guide and friend. This is also when I remember three essential attributes for successful aging: Adaptability, flexibility and resilience. Playing around with food is a great place to start with that. You might not think resilience comes into play with food, but I assure you it does. Trying new things means we might make mistakes. We might even fail at something we’ve put a lot of effort into. Learning to manage the disappointment without too much apology, blaming, or defensiveness is always worth learning. Second, Bittman is a true prophet in the land of corporate greed and mono-culture agriculture. He asks, “What would a just food system look like? I believe we can answer that question…because nothing is more important than food. “You can’t have a serious conversation about food without talking about human rights, climate change and justice. Food not only affects everything, it represents everything.” Before Rebecca Crichton worked for Boeing, taught leadership development, or became executive director of the Northwest Center for Creative Aging, she was a caterer, recipe developer, and food journalist. She has taught cooking to seniors and others, and can reel off food ideas and recipes for any part of a meal or event. She believes in easily prepared, healthy, and taste-filled food that delights and satisfies.
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