The History Of Our Food System: What’s Wrong And How To Fix It with Mark Bittman

Feb 10, 2021

Mark Bittman, a celebrated food author and former New York Times columnist, dives deep into the intricate web connecting food, health, and societal issues. He discusses the urgent need for a just food system that addresses wealth inequality and climate change. Bittman critiques industrial agriculture's impact on health and advocates for sustainable practices. He emphasizes the transition to regenerative agriculture and the dangers of ultra-processed foods, all while proposing a 'Food New Deal' to revolutionize our food landscape for a healthier future.

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INSIGHT

Food System Destructive

Our current food system is destructive, impacting health, environment, and economy.
Mark Bittman's book helps understand the history and potential solutions.

INSIGHT

Reason for Writing the Book

Mark Hyman asks Mark Bittman why he wrote "Animal, Vegetable, Junk."
The book differs from Bittman's other works by offering a historical perspective.

INSIGHT

Impact of Agricultural Revolution

The agricultural revolution, though recent in human history, has been massively destructive.
It led to injustices like war, slavery, and environmental damage.

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The History Of Our Food System: What’s Wrong And How To Fix It | This episode is brought to you by Bioptimizers, Thrive Market, and Athletic Greens

What do wealth inequality, chronic disease, climate change, and the industrialization of agriculture all have in common? The answer is food, and more specifically our food system. Very few people are able to connect the dots between some of the world’s most pressing issues in a way that lets us see the big picture. My guest on today’s episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, Mark Bittman, is someone who does exactly that in an effort to achieve a different future for food.

Mark Bittman is the author of thirty acclaimed books, including How to Cook Everything and the #1 New York Times bestseller, VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health... for Good. He was a New York Times columnist for more than two decades and has hosted four TV series, including the Emmy-winning Years of Living Dangerously. He is currently on the faculty of Columbia University and is the editor in chief of the blog The Bittman Project, and his most recent book is Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal.

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Here are more of the details from our interview:

Answering the question, what would a good food system look like? (9:29)

Looking back at the development and resulting consequences of our agricultural system (11:17)

Tracing today’s wealth inequality, food industrialization, and monocrop culture back to the agricultural pursuits of the nineteenth century (18:27)

Making measurable, incremental change to improve our modern food system (29:43)

What individuals can do to improve our food system (32:26)

The cost of failing to name that we are in a national food crisis (33:34)

Is Big Food rethinking its role in our food system? (38:29)

Incentivizing regenerative agriculture, nationally and internationally (40:46)

Improving national food policy (48:08)

The link between agriculture and climate change, and the role of animal production in climate change (50:30)

Learn more about Mark Bittman at https://www.markbittman.com/ and get his new book, Animal Vegetable Junk: A History of Food, From Sustainable to Suicidal at https://www.markbittman.com/book-covers-descriptions/yd23vsv00b8bbc0c5rupl6fzq5ofka.

Access Mark Bittman’s newsletter The Bittman Project at https://www.bittmanproject.com/.

Follow Mark on Facebook @markbittman, on Instagram @markbittman, and on Twitter @bittman.

Articles referenced:

Long-latency deficiency disease: insights from calcium and vitamin D https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14594776/

Paradigm Shift: The End of “Normal Science” in Medicine

https://drhyman.com/blog/2010/12/21/paradigm-shift-the-end-of-normal-science-in-medicine/