I haven’t read the book yet. I’m actually scared to.
I emailed with my friend Tim yesterday and I told him about my latest purchase and what I did on Tuesday night. Liza (of ES) and I saw Jonathan Safran Foer speak about his new book, Eating Animals. As I wrote to Tim, I’m afraid that after I read it my pending vegetarianism will be cemented. Or I will only eat properly raised animals. Ugh. I just don’t know.
I’ve been on a mostly vegetable diet for the past year and a half. There are a ton of reasons for the slow conversion, but reading Michael Pollan (Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, his New York Times Magazine pieces) has been undeniably influential. And of course my ritualistic dedication of eating what the farmers are selling at my local market has enthusiastically showed me how to eat produce with the seasons.
Andrew Sullivan, of Subway fame, introduced Foer at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue in DC. I had no idea that the already segmented gay Republican is also a vegetarian. He started with a story of his own book tour in Scotland. He’d been hammered with questions regarding his sexual orientation and was then innocently asked, “Do you eat meat?” With laughter from the audience, Sullivan joked with us that there were several possible answers to that question. He replied, however, that “No, never. It’s the only thing I can truly justify.”
And then Foer came on and pisted me off.
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