Jonathan Safran Foer NYC Book Signing Packs the House…And A Punch

“My book is really about factory farming.�

So said scruffy Brooklynite and bestselling author of Eating Animals Jonathan Safran Foer at last night’s Barnes & Noble speaking engagement in Manhattan. “That’s the kind of farming that produces 99% of the animals that are food in this country. So if I use [the term ‘factory farming’] interchangeably with ‘meat,’ it’s because it’s 99% of what’s available.�

The place was packed — think battery-cage packed. The security guards even had to do crowd control…at Barnes & Noble!!!

The great thing about Foer (I mean, aside from the fact that he just mainstreamed the discussion of factory farming!) is that whenever anyone puts up a wall, he just calmly walks around it to the subject he wants to address, i.e., factory farming. And he gets away with it.

With 99% of animal food production stemming from factory farming, I bet you could guess what the first question was about. That’s right. The other one percent.

The rest of the (okay, I admit it – annoying) questions included the cat food conundrum. “I’m sorry but you’re going to have to put your cat down,â€� Foer joked. And of course somebody asked the old favorite: “Don’t plants have feelings too?”

Regarding the “one percent� question, Foer didn’t get into the plethora of animal cruelty issues involved in local, “humanely raised� animals, he did, however, talk about how it’s totally impossible to feed the world on them and how doing so isn’t a way to build policy, it’s a “hobby.�

“All of the humanely raised chicken in America couldn’t feed Staten Island right now,� he started, before explaining that the real focus needs to be on factory farming. “[Eating humanely-raised animal products is] not a model; it’s not going to be replicated. There is not enough earth on earth.� (Check out “Greenwashed� by Stewart David for more on locavore myths.)

It’s evident that Eating Animals is the book to get for people who eat animals. Foer is a great communicator, he’s funny, he’s not judgmental, and the guy can really write. And although us vegans aren’t the intended audience for it , I must say that I’m enjoying the read!

Pick up your copy of Eating Animals today!