As a best-selling food author and former columnist for the New York Times, Mark Bittman ’71 isn’t afraid to be bold — with the dishes he creates or his stances on controversial food- and health-related topics.
A vocal opponent of the impact of factory farming on Americans’ health and the environment, among other issues impacting the country’s food system, Bittman recently took part in WGBH’s 6thannual Green Media Innovation IdeaLab. The Boston PBS station’s one-day summit, which featured panels in science, technology, the arts and media, addressed a familiar topic for Bittman: “Bold Visions for the Future: Biodiversity, Cities and Leadership in Times of Climate Change.”
He’s taken a stance on the impact of industrial agriculture on climate change, in addition to penning many a column on health and food issues.
“Climate change, diet and agriculture are inexorably intertwined; we can’t tackle climate change without changing industrial agriculture, and we can’t change industrial agriculture without tackling diet,” Bittman wrote in a 2014 New York Times column.
At the Innovation IdeaLab event, Bittman participated in a panel on cities, food and sustainability. Other panels addressed topics like the development of sustainable urban planning and the power of community engagement to create change, and featured speakers like artist and environmentalist Maya Lin and National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore among others. The event offered a chance for thought leaders to share ideas with independent public media producers for future reporting and storytelling opportunities.
You can read more about Bittman in this article from a 2012 CLARK alumni magazine and on his blog.