Popular food writer Mark Bittman took the pulpit at the Unity Temple in Kansas City Thursday night, preaching his gospel of progressive food policy and offering denunciations of what he calls “Big Food.”
Bittman, a New York Times columnist and author of several best-selling cook books, urged the crowd to join the “food movement,” a democratic effort to stop the production of large-scale agriculture, the growth of processed foods, and to combat the current U.S. diet, which he called “the worst ever created.”
“Big Food,” which he characterized as corporations that create UFOs – unidentifiable food objects, like Cheetos – has robbed the U.S. of its natural resources, created “poisonous calories” and contributed to climate change, he said.
People must try to make a difference personally, locally and globally, Bittman said, by urging governments to subsidize real food, supporting food labeling efforts, banning junk food and soda at schools and cooking at home more often.
“This is the job of the food movement,” he said.
