Ellen DeGeneres interviewed J Foer, Author of Eating Animals!

[LilyRoze]

It's on NBC. They're talking about factory farming and vegetarianism and swine flu coming from North Carolina, not Mexico, right now!

[JessaCita]

Gaaaaaah.  I would have loved to see this!  I hope it's online later.  I love Ellen & am currently reading Eating Animals.

[JessaCita]

Video here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/04/eating-animals-jonathan-s_n_345558.html

[JessaCita]

My pleasure!  Thanks for the heads up!  I am excited to watch the interview when I get home.

[ShtzAmazing]

my mom saw this and recorded it for me haha
i thought it was a really good interview, he hit a lot of points pretty well and i was suprised at the amount of time they gave him compared to some other things ive seen : ]

[JessaCita]

i was suprised at the amount of time they gave him compared to some other things ive seen : ]

I still haven't had a chance to watch the interview, but I bet they gave him more time than most programs because Ellen is vegan.  I'm sure she liked what he had to say.

[amymylove]

thank u for the link jessacita... awesome video

[humboldt_honey]

He had a completely supportive platform in Ellen to distribute his message and he blew it.  He didn't talk about things that are important to omnis.  He talked about what vegans care about.  But so what?  We're already vegan.

[amymylove]

well he talked about the environment which is "trendy" right now so that was good and i also think his discussion about farm animals and "cage free eggs" might cause people to rethink their image of a farm... i enjoyed it and i like that the audience got a copy of the book... i think just bringing to light some of these issues at least makes people think about it and hopefully they will do their research and change their lifestyle

[humboldt_honey]

You're right.  Maybe it was the delivery that made it meh.

[humboldt_honey]

OMG.  I was commenting on someone's status update regarding Jonathan Safran Foer on fb and it clicked in my head that he's the same person who wrote Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, for which I'm on the waiting list at the library.  Perspective is everything.  I love him.  I still don't think it was the most influential interview I've seen, but I sincerely love the man.

I watched it a second time and there was a certain section that I particularly didn't like.  I think the rest of it was okay.  The offending part was when Ellen posed the question about how not eating meat (e.g., buying a dollar burger from McDonalds) would be too expensive for people who are struggling with a budget.  Being vegan can be made to be CHEAP without sacrificing nutrition.  He didn't talk about that.  He talked about yuppie environmental issues.  They're equally valid, but it left Ellen's comment as being legitimate - that being vegan costs more than being omni.  Since that's a newbie comment I read here from time to time, it's an urban legend that should be directly discounted.

[LilyRoze]

 The offending part was when Ellen posed the question about how not eating meat (e.g., buying a dollar burger from McDonalds) would be too expensive for people who are struggling with a budget.  Being vegan can be made to be CHEAP without sacrificing nutrition.  He didn't talk about that.  He talked about yuppie environmental issues.  They're equally valid, but it left Ellen's comment as being legitimate - that being vegan costs more than being omni.  Since that's a newbie comment I read here from time to time, it's an urban legend that should be directly discounted.

I totally agree, HH. In fact, when I heard it I thought the same, but I kinda glossed over it , because I was just glad to hear vegetarianism and farm animals' conditions addressed on a network talk show. Good point tho. I think that the misconception comes because, for instance,  vegan whipped cream costs  more than dairy whipped cream, and soy milk costs more than cow milk, and tofu costs more than eggs,  and tofu pups cost more than meat hot dogs.  But to a large extent, those are convenience vegan foods, we don't really need to eat them. When money was really tight, I ate a lot of lentil soup and rice and beans and tortillas and oats, etc. The real savings come when we don't buy the chicken, fish, steak, etc. that omni shoppers pay the most for. The non-vegan forms of these foods are also government subsidized so the true cost is not seen at the checkout. Also organic costs more than non-organic. Also, quality cost more than junk and most vegans prefer quality. Another real savings is when veg*ns are less likely to get sick, or be obese.

[JessaCita]

I watched it a second time and there was a certain section that I particularly didn't like.  I think the rest of it was okay.  The offending part was when Ellen posed the question about how not eating meat (e.g., buying a dollar burger from McDonalds) would be too expensive for people who are struggling with a budget.  Being vegan can be made to be CHEAP without sacrificing nutrition.  He didn't talk about that.  He talked about yuppie environmental issues.  They're equally valid, but it left Ellen's comment as being legitimate - that being vegan costs more than being omni.  Since that's a newbie comment I read here from time to time, it's an urban legend that should be directly discounted.

I still haven't watched this damn interview because I keep forgetting, but I totally agree with this sentiment.  In fact, I saw that Ellen is on the cover of Oprah's magazine this month, so I picked up my mom's copy & read the interview.  In it, Ellen explained why she went vegan (she watched videos of treatment to animals on farms & in slaughterhouses) & described how she's lost some weight and feels amazing - which I thought was great.  I mean, "O" is read by a lot of people, and mostly by people who wouldn't consider veganism on their own.  BUT, then Ellen said that she has a chef, so it's easy for her to be vegan.  "For other people, it's harder."  Um, NO, IT ISN'T.  Sure, there's a learning curve, but I know high school & college kids who are vegan!  I don't have a whole lot of extra time on my hands, yet I manage to make awesome, nutritious meals almost every single day.  It isn't hard.

I just feel like people come up with enough of their own excuses, and that we (veg*ns) don't need to supply them with more or confirm what they already suspect - which is, veganism is difficult, limiting, and expensive.  I couldn't disagree with that more.

[amymylove]

totally true HH... i forgot about that part... and when Ellen said she was vegetarian for awhile but loved cheeseburgers? but yes being vegan is not expensive if you eat basic stuff: beans, veggies, bread, tortillas, pasta, to name a few... i know i have spent a lot over time buying all the weird ingredients and spices but overall i can load up a cart full of veggies for like $20 at this local market so ya pretty lame excuse for not eating animals... when i used to purchase meat that was what made my bill expensive!

[hotcooknmama]

Foer is an awesome writer... here's an NPR link, where he's talking about 'Eating Animals' & what turned him into a 'vegetarian activist': as an adult, he got his first puppy... like Jon Franklin (author of 'The Wolf in the Parlor'), living for the first time with a sentient being NOT a human being was a life-changing experience for him...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114298495

'Everything Is Illuminated' was a beautiful book, & I can't wait to read 'Eating Animals'... kudos to Foer for bringing this issue to the attention of so many, & to Ellen for having him on... can't wait to watch/ read!