Vegetarian Star

Author Jonathan Safran Foer was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show recently to talk about his latest book, Eating Animals.

Jonathan touched on the fact that most people aren’t aware of the conditions of factory farms.

“Unfortunately this image that we have of a farm has created a distance between our values and our actions,” Jonathan says.

“We continue to believe that the meat on our plate comes from these idealyc places. I wish that it did, but it doesn’t.”

Watch the entire video to feel the veg vibe as the two vegans chit chat.

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Jonathan Safran Foer "Eating Animals" Interview

Best selling author Jonathan Safran Foer has a new book out, Eating Animals.

Foer had been an on again/off again vegetarian for years, but never really took the time to learn about the rational reasons for doing so. When his wife became pregnant, he decided it was time to educate himself so he could teach his child why going vegetarian is the best diet for humans, animals, and the planet.

In a recent interview with Vegnews, Jonathan elaborates on why people still find no fault in eating meat, especially factory farmed meat.

“Peoples’ responses to food, the reason they take it so emotionally and so many smart, informed people continue to eat this stuff—it’s not because they’re ignorant, it’s not because they’re evil. It’s because there’s a large component of our decision-making that isn’t reasonable. The challenge is to persuade people, or show people, even those parts that aren’t reasonable, things like cravings, are actually better satisfied by not eating them.”

“I think the better way to talk about it is like a series of these choices. Like how can one try to make the best choice as often as possible? The “best” meaning the choice that is in line with their values. Despite the array of values that Americans have, if everyone ate his values, nobody would eat factory farmed meat. And I think, frankly, very few people would eat any kind of meat. Nobody’s values lead them there. It’s only forgetfulness.”

Read Jonathan’s entire interview at vegnews.com.

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Natalie Portman recently revealed that after flirting with veganism, she made the permanent switch after reading Jonathan Safran Foer‘s book Eating Animals.

Portman took to the Huffington Post to explain her motivations and decisions that arose from reading the book and her thoughts on factory farming and using animals for food.

On Her Switch To Veganism
“Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals changed me from a twenty-year vegetarian to a vegan activist. I’ve always been shy about being critical of others’ choices because I hate when people do that to me. I’m often interrogated about being vegetarian (e.g., “What if you find out that carrots feel pain, too? Then what’ll you eat?”).”

On Factory Farming
“The human cost of factory farming — both the compromised welfare of slaughterhouse workers and, even more, the environmental effects of the mass production of animals — is staggering. Foer details the copious amounts of pig shit sprayed into the air that result in great spikes in human respiratory ailments, the development of new bacterial strains due to overuse of antibiotics on farmed animals, and the origins of the swine flu epidemic, whose story has gripped the nation, in factory farms.”

Read Natalie’s entire article at huffingtonpost.com.

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torre.elena on Flickr

Novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, best known for his book, Everything Is Illuminated, has a non-fiction book coming out in October and he revealed to NYU local some secrets about its contents.

“Yeah, so it’s a whole book about meat, basically. The premise is that I have been an on and off vegetarian since I was a kid, sometimes very off, sometimes very on. But never really all too informed about my decisions. I just based them more on intuitions or instincts. But when my wife became pregnant and I thought about having to make these decisions on someone else’s behalf, I took it pretty seriously and wanted to make good decisions, especially because they can be hard, difficult– they can create awkward situations. So I spent about a year going to farms all over America, talking to farmers and learning what I could and writing about.”

When Foer was “on” he recorded a video where he shared his thoughts on vegetarianism. He said the hardest place to be a vegetarian was in the Ukraine. Other than that experience, he said he “just can’t imagine it being easier to be a vegetarian.”

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Alexis Stewart, the vegetarian daughter of Martha Stewart and co-host of Whatever Radio, has been active in animal rights and vegetarianism before. Now she’s at it again, hosting the Farm Forward Launch party in her own home and feeding guest with vegan treats.

Farm Forward is an organization that wishes to move away from the practice of factory farming and toward smaller family owned farms that care for the animals better, and encourages more sustainable agricultural practices.

The launch party attendees  included Alexis and her mother Martha, as well as novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, who is a Farm Forward Board Member. Foer joked that he has tried to go vegetarian several times and coining an old phrase Mark Twain used about smoking, he said “it’s easy to go vegetarian, I’ve done it dozens of times.”

Although members of it’s Executive staff are vegan, Farm Forward is aiming to create better lives for the animals that will be eventually slaughtered, according to Aaron Gross, one executive staff member.

Vegan hors d’oeuvres were served and Alexis baked her very own vegan cookies.

You can view clips from the Farm Forward Launch party as well as learn more about Farm Forward.

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