If you’re super into food, perhaps you’ve heard of Patrick Martins. He’s the founder of Heritage Foods USA: an organization that coordinates the distribution of meat to consumers and restaurants. Part of their mission reads “The meat we celebrate is the righteous kind, from healthy animals of sound genetics that have been treated humanely and allowed to pursue their natural instincts. Antibiotics and growth hormones are not part of the system. The environment is respected, and fair labor is practiced.” As you can tell, Martins is passionate about food, and especially passionate about meat.
Last night, his new book “The Carnivore’s Manifesto” launched at Roberta’s. There was beer, pizza, and a funny reading backed by music. The book is described as “Fifty ways to be an enlightened carnivore, while taking better care of our planet and ourselves.” The excerpts I read were witty.
For the book, Martins collaborated with Mike Edison, publisher of High Times. Edison did a reading during the launch, declaring “New York is good for apples, but peaches, not so much!” He also said “I drink wine from all over the world, but never from Brooklyn.” This chapter was written to describe how the word “local” has been adapted to simply mean “good,” but that’s not always the case. These are the sorts of myths The Carnivore’s Manifesto is working to bust.
I had a chance to speak with Martins during the event. He assured me “The ‘Fuck Local’ chapter [Edison read from] had nothing to do with media.” Martins is a funny guy, stating that The Carnivore’s Manifesto is “One of the top 500 books written about food… This year.” He told me he wrote the book since he had a chance to taste all of these great foods, especially after living in Italy for a year. There’s only 6-8 basic livestock that chefs use, and it’s amazing to see what we can do with it. When I asked if there were any particular butchers in North Brooklyn he recommended, he told me “The Meat Hook. And God forbid you find yourself in Manhattan, Ottomanelli & Sons on 284 Bleeker Street is one of the best. They’ve been open for over 80 years.”
Of course, I had to ask which restaurants in the neighborhood was his favorite. He said “It would be Ro-momo-ball. A combination of Roberta’s, Momo Sushi Shack and The Meatball Shop.”
So if you’re a meat eater, pick up a copy of The Carnivore’s Manifesto at your local book shop. It just may-rethink the way you eat.