What's wrong with what we eat | Mark Bittman
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- Опубліковано 20 тра 2008
- www.ted.com In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.
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Yeah, I like his quote about animals. ..."the time has come to stop raising them (animals) industrially and stop eating them thoughtlessly.
17 years later we all appreciate how this guy was on point!
Absolutely; pure Facts 💯💯!!!
Brilliant talk - covers all the main issues in a witty and succinct way!
I've listened to this a couple of times and I think that Michael Pollan has defined the issue in as even handed a way as possible. My choice in life is to eat vegan. I wish everyone would. Realistically however, what we need is for meat eaters to become highly discriminate in their choices. Go for quality over quantity and cut way back. So...all my meat loving friends, I encourage you to really think about how much and how often, and what kind of meat you will consume.Learn about factory farming, learn about feedlots, and let that knowledge guide you in your consumption of meat products.
Rita Butler so well said!
This is excellent, he pretty much sums up all my reasons for being a (semi) vegetarian. It's not the consumption of meat I have an issue with, it's the process it takes to get on one's plate and the thoughtlessness with which it is consumed.
fantastic, I love the tone of this talk, much more logos than pathos
Thank you Mark - Your voice is more than welcome - and may I say very well said! I hope its not too late.
@Gardyloo -
While I agree with you (I'm vegan myself), I think that from a pragmatic view, Bittman might be taking the right approach. Tell people they should eat NO meat, and 95% of your listeners will dismiss your ideas without even considering them. But tell them they should just eat LESS meat, even a LOT less, and a sizeable percentage of them might actually listen to you, and some may even choose to act. Two people eating 50% less meat has the same effect as one person going vegetarian.
no, if he says that then no effect will happen. The protests in making them leave meat doesn't make them abandon eating meat but instead makes them lower its consumption as it affects them mentally and guilts them. If he says eat less meat, then people wouldn't understand the gravity of the situation.
An excellent video!
Great great talk, thank you!
Really liked your video!
Thanks for that insightful contribution.
Fascinating, thanks.
Thank you Mark Bittman! Down to earth truth.
This was a remarkable talk, thank you Mark - I mean, you were preaching to the converted in this case, but the wealth of information condensed into 20 minutes provided a lot of food (no pun intended) for thought :)
Cowspiracy on Netflix!
"Less meat, less junk, more plants." I'll take that in my mind!
Great talk.
The only way to stop factory farming is for people to reduce their meat intake, this is a very hard problem to solve.
No it only involves getting _people_ to do it themselves....
The easiest way would be printing a picture of the slaughtered animal on the meat package. I don't think anybody would still buy it.
+Carolin Mönch Kind of reminds me of the disgusting pictures you see on cigarette boxes.
+John Morgan its impossible now - sadly...
Matt O Was it not impossible some other time?
I wish i had the land, I'd love to live on a few acres off the grid. I herd of lasquita, a off the grid village of about 400, under an hour away from Vancouver,BC on an isolated island.
This is very informative. Thanks.
I actually switched to a vegetarian diet 18 months ago and now eat a mainly raw vegan diet. The best choice I ever made.
This was a pretty good talk about food
The enlightened individual is way ahead of the curve and clearly on the right track. The information he seeks to spread is widely known among many groups of people. I can only hope is wisdom becomes adopted by more societies for all our good.
awesome!!!! thx for the great enlightment! A Zija distributor in Lexington, KY
最近才知道這個TED網站, 我看這些主講人的演講跟簡報,來磨練自己的講課工夫.
今天看到這段關於少吃肉的主張,我印象中已經有一段時間了. 但是看到本尊跟原本的片段
Mark Mittman 使用的數據雖然是舊的,整個演說卻很有力量,
我過去在食品製造業作過總經理幕僚,說真的看到這樣的主張,我想很多人會頭痛的
不過,該改變的就得作
You might also find this TED talk interesting
"Tackling diabetes with a bold new dietary approach: Neal Barnard"
this made me actually get up and eat an apple and an orange. Great video, not all that many videos make me do that.
Good words.
I have been studying nutrition for a while now. I have taken classes in college and continue to study on this subject. As a vegetarian since 1981, and more hours in school in nutrition I feel I have some knowledge in this field. Do not let one video sway your wisdom. Go out and see the whole picture from those who have the wisdom and are not biased by money. I am 50 years old, in very good health, very physical. I work out in the gym every work. I am very strong. You are what you eat.
Very enlightening.
Jennifer Ly joe told me not to
I enjoyed what he had to say well said x
"... perhaps the stupidest food ever: Minute Rice"
Love it!
It’s not even rice 😅
Awesome talk! Great job of squeezing lots of important info in. Thank you for speaking out for the animals and the earth and our collective health! :)
love Mark Bittman...
Brilliant!
This is a pretty good talk. It concerns me that he is still eating meat. There is no way one can raise and kill animals that could be considered humane. My thoughts are that we should reduce suffering for our fellow humans and other sentient animals on this planet. To that end, I am vegan.
That was very interesting.
Lmao ! you deserve a standing ovation
Brilliant reminder... and evergreen in every sense.
I always watch this talk when I feel like ordering a pizza or going to McDonald's. I've lost more than 20 pounds that way.
the change comes from each one of us.
so personal responsability. gotcha.
Sorry, but four people don't eat 15 cows per year, as the graphic seems to suggest. Would be impressive if one person could manage to consume one all on their own.
@DontTouchMyVicodin hahahha thats ingenious!
This is a lot more appealing than most other Health-food promotions I've heard...it doesn't sound cultish or fanatic.
"Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes
nuff said
This is a good talk! I agree with what he is saying and I've been eating towards that goal myself. Eating smart and nutritiously is the best way to go about it. So many of us overcomplicate our diets with all sorts of craziness, ie most of the people I know who eat meat by the truckload, some of the people I know who eat only vegetarian or vegan or gluten free, no carbs, all carbs, etc. It's all too much nonsense and they all think they are right. Eat smart, its not hard but is delicious!
Good Advice
I loved this in 2007, but I knew less than I know now, and it hasn't aged well. How on earth can MB conflate the health consequences of eating meat and dairy to those of living on super processed and/or refined carbohydrates and HFCS? We can all agree about the shame and cruelty of feed lots, but Americans are sick because of processed and convenience foods, not liver, butter or eggs!
I am looking forward to your arguments..that shred this inconenvenient truth.
I've already cut out fast food from my diet. Kinda preaching to the choir but it was interesting I guess.
I found since I stopped leaving my TV on while on the computer and generally watching less to no TV, I haven't had any cravings for food besides chocolate (which is my favorite candy.)
Even if we don't agree with everything he says and he isnt the best speaker on this topic, "personalities" like Mark Bittman are able to introduce ideas to people who would otherwise not have considered them and might be able to lead the person to take the next step and learn more about the ideas presented.
Don't see it as a challenge, look at it from the the other side of the problem - from this side it can look like an impossible task, but when we actually do it, we'll look back and see what an amazing feat we achieved, so think from the otherside - don't get down on how hard it will be, get happy about how much good it will do
It is my contention that local and organic food cultivation and production will save the world. Local organic food is good food. There's no doubt about that statement anywhere. And for the following reasons I believe it will save the world.
Local food is close. When people buy local the cost of shipping decreases dramatically. Not just the monetary cost but the cost of fuel for trucks, the cost of wear and tear on roads and highways, the cost of CO2 and other emissions from the process of shipping... the list goes on. I don't think there's a need to delve into those costs to show how decreasing them will benefit everyone.
Local food is observable. When people can see their food being grown or raised there is a decrease in anxiety about where their food comes from and what it actually is. People may not realize they have anxiety about food but the root of the anxiety around all the food related ailments in western society is ignorance. People see reports on the news or read articles on what is good or what is bad and a lot of it can be contradictory as it comes from unknown or suspect sources. Now what do you do? More research, more suspect sources, more food coming from who knows where and from who knows what... Go and look at your food being produced. You will know it's good food that is good for you.
Local food is small scale (relatively speaking). This means even if a local producer is growing or raising only one thing the detrimental effects of monoculture production are eliminated. When you look at a strawberry farm in southern California you see vast swaths of natural desert sucking up water from Lake Mead hundreds of miles away in Nevada. That farm is a huge patch of land where both the flora and fauna are so restricted by manipulation that the species diversity approaches 1. And large amounts of time and energy are spent to keep it that way. Potato farms in Idaho do the same. They bring logistically difficult amounts of water in from hundreds of miles away to water similarly species deficient swaths. The redirection of fresh water, commoditizing water, and species deficiencies are not good for anyone or anything. (If I were to provide supporting documentation for that statement this writing would run very long. If you require supporting documentation you can email me or Google it.) Smaller local patches of monocultures require much less time and energy per acre, can use local water sources and maintain species diversity through smaller monocultures abutting other smaller monocultures.
Local food provides income for locals. Putting your hard earned dollars back into your community is just good. No need to explain. It just is. A local producer provides for you as you provide for the producer. And the producer pays taxes in your community (municipality, province / state, country).
Local will help get people out of cities and into rural areas. Support local and you support jobs where local food is produced. People working in the food industry, be it production, processing, markets and restaurants will no longer have to live in the ever increasing financial costs of living in the city. Production, processing, markets and restaurants will be local to people working in those industries. No longer will the proximity of a supermarket be a feature on a realtor feature sheet but the feature will be where to get food that is good for you right where it is produced. As a bonus less congestion in cities means getting around in cities is easier and less stressful.
Organic local food reduces the the amount of herbicides and pesticides, man made or not, being concentrated in the soil where the food you're eating is being grown or raised. In my opinion this is good. If you believe this is a controversial subject then err on the side of caution and eliminate their use until you know for sure.
What are some of the big issues we talk about around the kitchen table and water coolers? CO2 and global warming, taxes and how they are appropriated, obesity / diabetes and other diet related diseases / malnutrition, what industrial food actually is and what it means and availability of fresh water. Buy local food. Buy organic food. Do your part. Even when you're travelling buy food that is local to that community or region to support the place you've traveled to. You'll save the world where ever you are.
here for school
Only the plants are LOADED with Round Up. I was eating a real whole foods diet, but I didn't know it was loaded with Round Up until it perforated my gut.
"Everyone was a locavore.." I recommend reading Mark Kurlansky's books, Cod and Salt, to learn about the amazing international trade of food products since the dawn of...trade.
I think the key here is moderation. As with most things consumed, eating too much - of plants, even - inevitably leads to undesirable effects. One could eliminate the many things in life being consumed in excess, but then that would defy moderation and eliminate the benefits those things have to offer.
Can't argue with a word of what he says. After I stopped eating meat, dairy, and most processed food 25 years ago my health improved 100%. And a half dozen folks I knew with various forms of cancer who did likewise are still around today.
Some good examples are Oreo cookies and Dad's by Mr. Christie
Mark, go for it! Make your dream a reality and honor your inner knowing.Your created spark inside wants to burn brighter. You can create a garden in pots and herbs grow great in pots in a sunny place. I have a greenhouse and I grow herbs and vegetables. Yes, it is work, but knowing where my food comes from and what is in it, is my best protection towards a healthier me. I am a certified nutritionist and find that most people eat for satisfaction not for health. Accept each others choices.
You don't realize how many other foods are available out there until you actually try a vegan diet. It's a whole other world. You also develop a much more sophisticated palate as you try so many different combinations of vegetables, nuts, fruits, cereals, and legumes. I made a vegan cheesecake that was better than any other cheesecake that I've ever had before I was a vegan.
I plan on getting into permaculture within the next decade. It is one of my biggest goals in life. Most of the plants that I plant on my land will be edible. I also plan on starting a chicken coop, and raise some livestock with others. Hopefully it works out well, I will share all of my food with the neighbors and hopefully they will see that we don't need to depend on these huge corporations for survival..
Look at the date it was released man
I feel with ya, one of my friends predicted my early death.
I love how defensive people get over their diets. I used to be a chef and a meat eater. I hated , what i perceived to be, the narrow mindedness of vegetarian ideals. After some changes in my life, I began to question my lifestyle choices. I did some research and now I'm convinced that I made the right to choice to eat more ethically. Peter Singers book, The Ethics Of What We Eat is a great source of information for anyone who is interested in what they eat.
The historical part is pretty amazing, but how many human beings needed to be fed back in the days? I support local diet, but I wonder if it could ever work in nowadays situation...
there is a dean ornish quote something to the tune of "you say it's extreme to switch to a plant-based diet... i say it's extreme to crack open your chest and perform open heart surgery"
Powerful, simply and essential! Walking up to the untruths we are fed daily by promoters interest is vital to our health and the planet's. I grow organic herbs and other food. I know where my food comes from.
ill reserch the foods you have just posted thanks .can i get B12 from plants
thanks
mark
6 years later and we've confirmed 4 plant based sources of bioactive B12 (meaning absorbable and usable by humans consuming it). How many more will we find if we actually look for them? Considering B12 is made by bacteria isn't that likely that B12 was abundant before excessive sanitation - in water, in plants and in animals? I'd say yes, especially when you learn that 85% of B12 supplements are sold to farmers to supplement animals raised in unnatural conditions as even they are lacking in that vitamin.
@reforest4fertility It's odd that Bittman says livestock production contributes more to greenhouse gasses than transportation, since transportion is PART of livestock production. Shipping the grains from the field to the feedlot, transporting the cattle from the feedlot to the slaughterhouse, shipping the meat from the slaughterhouse to the processing plant, shipping the finished product from the processing plant to the supermarket - I'd say transportation is part of meat production.
how bout pork?
i've been eating beef and coke for a long time i think its causing my daily headaches he got a point.
just FYI, did you know your taste buds regenerate once every week or so? and that they actually develop to match the molecules of the food we eat. So you can actually train what tastes good by what you eat, in about a week. I think about how wine initially tastes awful(my experience), and later people just love to savour it. (I still don't like it.)
Does anyone know if I can find a transcript for this?
Nah
Can you direct me to any Vegan dietary links I would like to try it but I want to have a full range of nutrients from non animal sources. I do however like to eat some butter and milk and eggs occasionally. I know that is not Vegan.
"I agree with a lot of his points however his push for an exclusive starch diet is very extreme."
It does sound extreme but if you try it you'll be amazed.
"By the way mashed potatoes without butter are just awful."
Yeah, but baked potatoes are really nice by themselves.
The only thing about this is that he's saying "DON'T EAT X, DON'T EAT Y", the Terry Wahls video showed exactly what we SHOULD be eating. This just scares me off choosing anything - he said cheese is bad, that we don't need any animal products - what about greek yoghurt?
first thing i did after this is grilled and ate a AAA Angus beef striploin, and just laughed thinking about how HEALTHY i am.
I totally agree,
pjsplace53 please tell me what you were going to say I can’t take it
@Masterphan The amount of protein we need varies by source (Am. Jour. of Clin. Nutrition says 2.5% of daily calories, Natl. Acad. of Sciences says 4.5-6.0%, Natl. Research Council says 8%), but they're all below the amount eaten by the average American, and are easily met on a vegan or vegetarian diet. Chicken breast tenders have 5.5 g protein/100 calories, cooked quinoa has 4 g/100 calories - less, to be sure, but not radically less. Tofu even has 13.5 g/100 calories!
@Anglehound you are to some extent right... but more carbon does not = more plants. what plants need, and also depending on the species, is often more complicated than that.
Whilst I totally agree that we are not meant to eat grains and refined carbohydrates in the quantities that we do nowadays, the notion that we should not be eating animal products is rubbish. Human beings have eaten a meat heavy diet for almost all of our existence. I agree that dairy consumption is contentious however.
I'd like to make clear as well that whilst we as humans are meant to eat meat, I do not agree with modern farming practices.
smrodan Would you care to elaborate?
sub39h
> I do not agree with modern farming practices.
Why not?
sub39h
there is a ted talk about that misconception actually! check out paleolithic diet myth. IT challenges the conventional hunter-gatherer hunt big game in order to survive myth. Most meat humans ate from that day was smaller in size. However the history of the human diet is also very diverse.
Plant Based Analyst
> there are hundred upon hundreds of studies that show eating meat is bad.
...And none conclusively.
Plant Based Analyst Let me start by saying that I work in healthcare. I'd be happy to pass on my credentials to you in private if you wish.
There is evidence that an EXCESS of RED meat consumption leads to an increase in colorectal cancer. There is also evidence that eating PROCESSED meat increases your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. However there is NO evidence that the blanket statement "eating meat is bad" is correct, based on decades of research. Please find me the evidence that bacon eaten in sensible portions is bad for you?
What there is evidence for, is that excess carbohydrates cause heart disease, diabetes, obesity, several types of cancer and tooth decay. Eating too much plant material also causes excess tooth wear. Vegetable oils are linked with heart disease. Wheat is linked with an upsurge in coeliac disease (itself a cause of depression, headaches, abdominal and joint pain), and coeliac disease itself when not managed again puts you at higher risk of intestinal cancers.
New research from anthropologists has shown that humans historically ate as much as 60% of their calories from meat. Your suggestion that it is bad for us is ill founded at best, and a lie (presumably to forward your own vegetarian rhetoric) at worst.
thanks for posting!!!
@cheapshot1234 Indian food certainly contains a much wider and more flavorful variety of spices than American food (I love Indian food and actually cook it quite often), but I think what Bittman was referring to was the fact that the processed food industry packs tons of sugar, salt, and artificial flavoring agents into food to make it taste better than it really is. I agree that "spice" was probably not his best choice of words, though.
@thefredsociety Eating vegetarian food is not about replacing meat with vegetables, but rather with other sources of protein. There are so many other dishes you can cook up with legumes, quinoa, eggs, tofu, tempeh, seitan, and nuts-- all protein sources. What it takes is willingness to explore new avenues and possibilities. Indian cooking is incredibly delicious, and much of it is vegetarian.
Okay, so maybe I'm a Vagitarian - That's on me. But if you're gonna eat meat (I have for most of my life, and who knows if I'll go back), just make it less awful. Don't eat a bunch of it, and when you do, make sure it's coming from quality.
Factory farms just won't do, man.
@Masterphan I'm also not sure what you mean by the athletes I mentioned not being "products of their vegetarianism". Mixed martial arts champ Mac Danzig became a strict vegan in 2004, and since then he has racked up 15 wins and only 5 losses. In the last year I traded my desk job for one involving physical labor and I've gained muscle mass while sticking to my strict vegan diet, so veganism obviously doesn't inhibit growth. So I honestly don't get the whole "we need animal protein" argument.
fair play never thought of it that way but my body tell's me if I eat foods that don't agree with me, so I stick with food that I know don't leave me feeling Shit .I am now 55 trying to cut up was 17stone10 now16 stone10 so if you have any help would love to hear it
mark
Hi i actually study CHD. Atherosclerosis is the main cause. Previously epi studies showed correlative links, however a raft of countries showed no links between meat intake, cholesterol and then athero and finally chd. Any study so far is merely suggestive, it is not fully understood and impossible currently to nail down one factor which is a definite cause. Whats more cholesterol and its intake are now more believed a reaction (to inflammation) rather than the previous thought cause .
"Eat food, mostly plants, not too much." - Michael Pollan
@Masterphan Few plants contain all amino acids in balance by themselves (with quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat as notable exceptions), but no one eats just one thing. Eating a variety of vegs and grains ensures a complete amino acid profile. For example, the amino acids limited in beans are present in rice, and vice-versa. So put them together and the result is a complete protein. Meat is a convenient SINGLE source of complete protein, but not therefore a superior one in terms of the total diet.
Everyone one in the world should watch this video.
tangent - b12 can be manufactured in adequate amounts by healthy gut bacteria. the b12 in spirulina and seaweeds are molecular analogs, and not true b12- they don't treat b12 deficiency and can make it worse.
@thefredsociety Potatoes, rice, pasta, semolina, oats, polenta, legumes, mushrooms, nuts, fruit, avocado...etc. It is easy to reduce meat intake. Plus the extra variety is both delicious and a refreshing change.
He did say it was a hyperbolic example.
we're not born craving waffles or skittles, LOL
Plant based foods such as potatoes, oatmeal, and quinoa are excellent sources of protein, far easier to digest, etc. Have you ever tried hemp protein?
He's trying to reverse the horrible affect that the industry's marketing have had in the last 40 years or so. That's quite a challenge.
True. And if you have a processing plant like I do in the area and want to by healthy meet it is less costly also to order part of the animal you want and split it with others and order a grass fed animal only. They are limited and ordering takes time however if you must have meat that is the best way to get a healthier product especially if you know the grower and what they feed the animal.