When you think of the word "organic," do you sometimes think it is just a trendy buzzword food companies and restaurants use so they can charge you more money? Do you wonder what it really means if a product is organic? Organic Food and Kitchen Matters is here to help! This practical and useful guide will explain not only what organic food is but also which foods should always be eaten organically and which ones are okay to eat when grown conventionally. In addition, you will learn how to become a label sleuth so you can eat real-food ingredients and feed those to your loved ones. Are you familiar with bone broth and why you should be consuming it? Get ready to learn all about gut health and why that is so important for your overall well-being. You will also get a tutorial about how to make your own bone broth and other foods that support gut health. Besides all that important food information, you will also learn how to properly stock your kitchen with healthy ingredients as well as the best tools to use to prepare that food. There are loads of tips about organizing your kitchen and entire chapters devoted to help you plan your weekly menu as well as where to shop for organic food for the best prices. Think you are not the best cook? Well, get ready for tons of tips for improving your cooking skills! This book promises to introduce you to the wonderful world of organic food and why you must jump on the organic train. Always remember, when it comes to food, organic matters.

Pamela Salzman shares a simple but powerful mantra with the students who attend her famed cooking classes: Eat well, live well, be well. Now, in Kitchen Matters, she shares the recipes that have won the praise of Nicole Richie, Rashida Jones, Audrina Patridge, and other mega-fans. Customizable for vegetarian, vegan, and grain-free diets, the recipes rely on accessible veggie-forward ingredients that are anti-inflammatory and nutrient-dense. Both practical and elegant, Kitchen Matters offers a roadmap for new and busy home cooks to begin including more wholesome foods every day, for meals as nourishing as they are unforgettable. "Isn't [Pamela] amazing? I couldn't boil water and now I regularly make dinner for my family." -- Jenni Kayne, fashion designer

From the award-winning champion of culinary simplicity who gave us the bestselling How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian comes Food Matters, a plan for responsible eating that's as good for the planet as it is for your weight and your health. We are finally starting to acknowledge the threat carbon emissions pose to our ozone layer, but few people have focused on the extent to which our consumption of meat contributes to global warming. Think about it this way: In terms of energy consumption, serving a typical family-of-four steak dinner is the rough equivalent of driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home. Bittman offers a no-nonsense rundown on how government policy, big business marketing, and global economics influence what we choose to put on the table each evening. He demystifies buzzwords like "organic," "sustainable," and "local" and offers straightforward, budget-conscious advice that will help you make small changes that will shrink your carbon footprint -- and your waistline. Flexible, simple, and non-doctrinaire, the plan is based on hard science but gives you plenty of leeway to tailor your food choices to your lifestyle, schedule, and level of commitment. Bittman, a food writer who loves to eat and eats out frequently, lost thirty-five pounds and saw marked improvement in his blood levels by simply cutting meat and processed foods out of two of his three daily meals. But the simple truth, as he points out, is that as long as you eat more vegetables and whole grains, the result will be better health for you and for the world in which we live. Unlike most things that are virtuous and healthful, Bittman's plan doesn't involve sacrifice. From Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing to Breakfast Bread Pudding, the recipes in Food Matters are flavorful and sophisticated. A month's worth of meal plans shows you how Bittman chooses to eat and offers proof of how satisfying a mindful and responsible diet can be. Cheaper, healthier, and socially sound, Food Matters represents the future of American eating.

In the past few years, organic food has moved out of the patchouli-scented aisles of hippie food co-ops and into three-quarters of conventional grocery stores. Concurrent with this growth has been increased consumer awareness of the social and health-related issues around organic eating, independent farming, and food production. Combining a straight-to-the-point exposé about organic foods (organic doesn't mean fresh, natural, or independently produced) and the how-to's of creating an affordable, easy-touse organic kitchen, Grub brings organics home to urban dwellers. It gives the reader compelling arguments for buying organic food, revealing the pesticide industry's influence on government regulation and the extent of its pollution in our waterways and bodies. With an inviting recipe section, Grub also offers the millionsof people who buy organics fresh ideas and easy ways to cook with them. Grub's recipes, twenty-four meals oriented around the seasons, appeal to eighteen- to forty-year-olds who are looking for fun and simple meals. In addition, the book features resource lists (including music playlists to cook by), unusual and illuminating graphics, and every variety of do-it yourself tip sheets, charts, and checklists.

Your everyday food choices can change the world—and make meals taste better than ever For anyone who has read The Omnivore’s Dilemma or seen Food, Inc. and longs to effect easy green changes when it comes to the food they buy, cook, and eat, The Conscious Kitchen is an invaluable resource filled with real world, practical solutions. Alexandra Zissu walks readers through every kitchen-related decision with three criteria in mind: what’s good for personal health, what’s good for the planet, and what tastes great. Learn, among other things, how to: - Keep pesticides, chemicals, and other harmful ingredients out of your diet - Choose when to spend your dollars on organic fruit and when to buy conventionally grown - Avoid plastic—including which kinds in particular and why - Figure out what seafood is safe to eat and is sustainable - Use COOL (country of origin labels) to your advantage - Determine if a vegetable is genetically modified just from reading its PLU (price look up) code - Decipher meat labels in the supermarket - Cook using the least energy—good for the earth and your wallet - Eat locally, even in winter - Understand what “natural” and other marketing terms really mean - Buy packaged foods wisely Navigate farmers’ markets, giant supermarkets, and every shop in between to find the freshest and healthiest local ecologically grown and produced meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables—no matter where you live With The Conscious Kitchen as your guide, you will never again stand in the market bewildered, wondering what to buy. You can feel confident you are making the best possible choices for you, your family, and our planet. ALEXANDRA ZISSU writes about green living, food, and parenthood. She is the author of The Conscious Kitchen, coauthor of The Complete Organic Pregnancy, and contributes the “Ask an Organic Mom” column to The DailyGreen.com. Her stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Green Guide, Cookie, Details, Bon Appétit, Self, and Health, among other publications. She is also a public speaker and “greenproofer,” an eco-lifestyle consultant. Visit her website, www.alexandrazissu.com.

A wonderfully engaging memoir from the woman who founded America’s first certified organic restaurant, My Organic Life is the story of an unheralded culinary pioneer who made it her mission to bring delicious, wholesome foods to the American table. While growing up on a farm in the Austrian Alps and later in Vienna, Nora Pouillon was surrounded by fresh and delicious foods. So when she and her French husband moved to Washington, D.C., in the 1960s, she was horrified to discover a culinary culture dominated by hormone-bloated meat and unseasonal vegetables. The distance between good, healthy produce and what even the top restaurants were serving was vast, and Nora was determined to bridge that gap. First as a cooking teacher, then as a restaurant owner, and eventually as the country’s premier organic restaurateur, she charted a path that forever changed our relationship with what we eat. Since it opened in 1979, her eponymous restaurant has been a hot spot for reporters, celebrities, and politicians—from Jimmy Carter to the Obamas—alike. Along the way, Nora redefined what food could be, forging close relationships with local producers and launching initiatives to take the organic movement mainstream. As much the story of America’s postwar culinary history as it is a memoir, My Organic Life encompasses the birth of the farm-to-table movement, the proliferation of greenmarkets across the country, and the evolution of the chef into social advocate. Spanning the last forty years of our relationship with food, My Organic Life is the deeply personal, powerfully felt story of the organic revolution—by the unlikely heroine at its forefront.

"Whether home is a small apartment, a tiny house or RV, a boat, or a college dorm room, chef Annie Mahle shares her small-space cooking strategies and 50 of her favorite recipes"--