New York Times’s Mark Bittman comes to Canada, is baffled by milk in a bag

New York Times’s Mark Bittman comes to Canada, is baffled by milk in a bag

Mark Bittman and Jessica Allen go shopping. Click image to go to full video. (Image: Maclean's)

New York Times writer and all-round foodie hotshot Mark Bittman came to Canada to sell his book last week, and the good folks at Maclean’s had the bright idea of bringing him to Toronto’s biggest independent grocer, Fiesta Farms (north of Bloor on Christie), for a wee spree. The video of the event (left) features Bittman and an overeager Jessica Allen meandering through the aisles at Fiesta while they discuss Bittman’s views on organic produce (in 100 years, if there are still people, they’ll be eating organic almost exclusively), weight loss (Bittman shed 30 pounds by going vegan-until-dark) and whether junk food is really cheaper than real food (nope).

Probably the funniest moment is the very beginning, when a dazed and confused Bittman stares, clearly incredulous and almost slack-jawed, at bags of milk.  It’s hard to remember sometimes that this is almost unique to Canada, and central and eastern Canada at that. If bagged milk doesn’t get you laughing, Bittman’s delicate euphemism for getting high—“an illicit act which involved inhaling”—is pretty precious.

• Wait, is that Mark Bittman in aisle two? [Maclean’s]
• Grocery shopping with New York Times food writer Mark Bittman (VIDEO) [Maclean’s]