From this review in the Trib:http://www.chicagotribune.com/feature...

It's not that I didn't like this book; it's just that it didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know from reading Michael Pollan. If you're looking for a beginner's eat well/right kind of book, with a bunch of recipes, you'll really like it. ( )

This book is in two parts. The first portion of the book contains a good summary of why the author changed his eating habits and on how these changes resulted in beneficial effects. This summary contains both personal observations along with a useful summary (including an extensive bibliography for more information) of the results of specific scientific and more popular studies of food and the food industry. For people who are interested in food, much of this information is not new, but the author provides a very nice summary of this information in one location. The second portion of the book contains a number of recipes. I have not tried any of them, but I have tried a number of the recipes that he has published in his Minimalist column in the New York Times. I have had success (and quite good eating) with these recipes; therefore, I suspect that the recipes in this book would lead to the same result. ( )

Food Matters is in many ways a follow-up to Pollan’s In Defense of Food, but I found it more useful. Like Pollan’s book, it explores the problems with the typical American diet, but it does so more succinctly. Then follows a helpful section of recipes and cooking tips . Bittman’s goal is not just to give specific recipes, but to enable the readers to throw things together for a quick, nutritious dinner based on what’s in season and what you have on hand. The recipes are practically written; they will often list numerous options and they tend to call for things like “one large or two medium onions” instead of “1 cup onion.” Still, though the techniques seem easy enough, the recipes might be challenging for complete cooking newbies as they mention some specialized produce. ( )