Mark Bittman (Journalist)

Mark Bittman (born February 17, 1950) is an American food journalist, author, and former columnist for The New York Times. Bittman has promoted VB6 (vegan before 6:00), a flexitarian diet.

Mark Bittman is a renowned journalist, food writer, and author of 30 books, including the bestselling How to Cook Everything and VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00. His accolades include International Association of Culinary Professionals, Julia Child, and James Beard awards which recognize his work as a columnist for The New York Times, lead food writer for The New York Times Magazine, and cookbook writer. His television appearances include The Today Show, NPR shows, Food Network's Chopped, PBS's Spain... on the Road Again, and the climate change documentary Years of Living Dangerously. In 2015, Bittman joined Purple Carrot as its chief innovation officer. In 2019, he debuted Heated, a food magazine on Medium, and released Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal in 2021.

The publication of VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 in 2013 and The VB6 Cookbook in 2014 introduced a flexitarian diet which recommends eating vegan before 6pm and any food afterwards while limiting processed foods. Despite Bittman's success with the diet, the British Dietetic Association named it one of the "Top 5 Worst Celebrity Diets to Avoid in 2015".

Mark Bittman is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School (1967) and Clark University. He is Jewish, and his grandparents emigrated from Ukraine and Romania. He has two adult daughters from a prior marriage and lived in Berkeley, California from 2015 to 2017. He runs marathons, is a licensed pilot, and currently resides in Cold Spring, New York where he follows his VB6 diet.