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Mark Bittman on the Importance of Cooking

Sally Stein
Mark Bittman

Cooking can be intimidating, especially in an era of triumphant food photos on Instagram, Pinterest, and blogs.

On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with food journalist, Mark Bittman, who says that perfect is the enemy of good.

Cooking is about compromise. - Mark Bittman

"You're never going to cook the perfect dish, you're never going to have the perfect ingredients, you're never going to have as many skills as you think you ought to, you're never going to have as much time as you would like to have," Bittman says. "It's important to recognize that."

Bittman talks to Charity about the importance of effective government food policy, with focus on the SNAP food program and best practices for raising animals for food. He also shares details of his "VB6" diet, requiring vegan meals up until dinner-time, after which anything goes.

Note: Mark Bittman's lecture in Iowa City for Feb. 2 has been canceled. The University of Iowa lecture committee is working to reschedule his visit for this spring based on his availability.

toi150202_students.mp3
ISU students talk about fellowship to help end world hunger - Talk of Iowa

Also on this episode, Charity talks with two Iowa State University students participating in a fellowship to end world hunger. Olivia Reicks and Trey Forsyth will spend the next semester working on projects to improve transportation of food products in developing countries.

Olivia Reicks is a junior studying supply chain management and business economics and Trey Forsyth is a sophomore studying agricultural business and agriculture and society.

Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa