I do a lot of the cooking in my house and Mark Bittman's book, How to Cook Everything, has become my kitchen bible. Bittman is not a chef. He's a journalist whose thoughtful stories have led him down a path to a small but growing food media empire. 

His blog is great (thoughtful and cool recipes). His PBS shows are fun and educational (not typical cooking fare). And he continues to write.

Which brings me to this morning, when I was surprised to hear his voice over the NPR airwaves pimping a new book on "conscious eating." He describes the book as:

Here's the summary: Eat less meat, and fewer animal products in general (I'll get to specifics on page 93). Eat fewer refined carbohydrates, like white bread, cookies, white rice, and pretzels. Eat way less junk food: soda, chips, snack food, candy, and so on. And eat far more vegetables, legumes, fruits, and whole grains-as much as you can.

OK, seems reasonable.

But most of his interview, was focused on the "less meat" part of the equation. While there are quite a few vegetarians at NRDC, I am not one of them. I love meat. Still, Bittman's take is thought-provoking. Instead of the typical 10 meals/week in the American diet centered on meat, why not shift down to eight? When you look at the climate and pollution implications that come from modern factory farming, there are persuasive reasons to make this kind of change.

Still, I was a surprised that some of the stuff Bittman suggested on-air sounded...well...not particularly tasty. Soy sauce on oatmeal is pretty suspect, but that is not the point.

The point is, here's a guy who has devoted much of his life and career to food. In looking closely at his work, he sees a strong and, in his mind, dangerous connection to global warming. And so, he has made changes in his life to address these concerns. And while these are not necessarily huge changes---they certainly affect his world view and livelihood.

Listening to the interview, It turns out that the change has also paid off for him:

After just a few months of the new diet, Bittman says, he noticed improvements to his health: "I lost 35 pounds - which is about 15 percent of my body weight - my cholesterol went down 40 points; my blood sugar went from borderline bad to just fine; [and] my knees, which were starting to give out as a result of running at too high a weight, got better."

All of those things - and, he says, he's shrinking his carbon footprint.

"Feeling like you're changing the world," he says. "That's a nice thing, too."

I have no idea if the changes that Bittman is advocating can have the same impact on the planet as they've had in his personal life. My guess is yes...there are a number of groups out there advocating for much more drastic changes and there is evidence that broad changes in either the American diet and/or large-scale factory farm practices could make a big difference in the fight against climate change.

Let's be clear. I don't plan to become a vegetarian and I am not suggesting those lifestyle changes for anyone else. Your relationship with meat is your own business... (That is a very odd sentence to type, BTW.)

But I do think we are in a new era of personal responsibility and some of what I heard in the interview rings true to me. We are all going to have to do things to avert climate catastrophe. Some will involve vast economy-wide solutions, while others will be small changes and choices made at home.

That's why I had a falafel sandwich for lunch...

Who says change can't be tasty?