New in Nonfiction - A Staff Pick

Karen Vaias, reference librarian and readers' services staff member at Bernardsville Public Library, recently read this new nonfiction book. Her review follows:

When the New Year rolls around, our thoughts often turn to self improvement. Resolutions can include such topics as reducing one's carbon footprint or one's waistband. The new book, Food Matters: a guide to conscious eating with more than 75 recipes by Mark Bittman offers help on how to achieve each of these. In it, he addresses the concept of sustainability in a practical and economical manner. Bittman discusses how significantly our meat-dominated menus impact global warming and depletion of resources. He also maintains that what is good for the environment is good for the individual: you will actually lose weight by implementing his suggestions! The author's guidelines are flexible enough to fit into most lifestyles and budgets. In the second part of the book, he includes menu plans and recipes that yield great results from a minimum of ingredients. Mark Bittman is the author of numerous cookbooks and a weekly New York Times column. He also appears regularly on the Today Show.