Mark Bittman (born February 17, 1950) is an American food journalist, author, and former columnist for The New York Times. Currently, he is a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman has promoted VB6 (Vegan Before 6:00), a flexitarian diet. Career Bittman is a journalist, food writer, and author of 30 books, including the bestselling How to Cook Everything and VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00. He has been the recipient of International Association of Culinary Professionals, Julia Child, and James Beard awards for his writing. Bittman was an Opinions columnist for The New York Times, a food columnist for the paper's Dining section, and the lead food writer for The New York Times Magazine. His column, "The Minimalist," ran in The New York Times for more than 13 years; the final column was published on January 26, 2011. He also hosted a weekly "Minimalist" cooking video on the New York Times website. Bittman is a regular guest on NBC's The Today Show and the NPR shows All Things Considered and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. He appeared as a guest judge on the Food Network competition series Chopped and was featured alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali in a PBS series called Spain... on the Road Again in 2008. In 2014, Bittman appeared as a correspondent for the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously. In 2015, Bittman announced he would be leaving the New York Times to join Purple Carrot (which subsequently received press for its partnership with Tom Brady) as its chief innovation officer. Books Bittman has written and co-written 16 books and cookbooks. Bittman's most recent cookbook, How to Cook Everything Fast, was released October 7, 2014. In 2005 he published the books The Best Recipes in the World and Bittman Takes on America's Chefs, and hosted the Public Television series Bittman Takes on America's Chefs, which won the James Beard Award for best cooking series. In 2007 he published How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. In 2009 he published the book Food Matters, which covers food-related topics such as environmental challenges, lifestyle diseases, overproduction and over-consumption of meat and simple carbohydrates. He also began the TV series Kitchen Express. Bittman has written the books The Minimalist Cooks at Home, The Minimalist Cooks Dinner and The Minimalist Entertains. In 2010 Bittman created The Food Matters Cookbook, an expansion of the principles and recipes in his prior