I'm at home on maternity leave and this means that for about 20 minutes every 1 to 4 hours, I am propped in a comfy chair lined with pillows and with a little baby girl latched on to me for dear life. As my toddler son so eloquently puts, she's eating me.

Being a food source, it shouldn't be too surprising that I have been thinking about food quite a bit as of late, especially after seeing Mark Bittman's TED Talk What's wrong with what we eat. I've been watching TED talks while I have been breast feeding. It beats the hell out of television.

Now, if you already follow Bittman's and Michael Pollan's work in The New York Times, then not much in this video will be new to you.But if you haven't, here's a synopsis of what he says: Eat more plants instead of meat. Eat real food.

The production of livestock is the second highest contributor to greenhouse gases. It's just after energy production and just before transportation. So instead of buying carbon credits every time you fly, perhaps you should buy some after you dine out at The Keg for steaks. Or you could eat less meat and more plants. It's better for your health and it's essential for our planet's health. Bittman provides many more details and many more reasons why to make the switch.

What I particular like about this talk is that Bittman lays out why the trendy and frequently promoted practices of eating organic food or being encouraging consumers to be concerned about food miles are not the solutions for the food problems at hand.


[cross-posted: 4-0-Wonderland]