It is perhaps the most militant lobby in the world. Certainly PETA is the noisiest and the bravest, gaining a reputation for its paint attacks on fur-wearers and its billboards featuring naked media stars.
Suffice it to say, PETA makes a lot of noise, and if you get on its bad side, PETA will swarm all over you. Like a flock of geese or school of sharks (sorry, couldn’t resist).
Now PETA is taking on Groupe Michelin, asking the company to stop promoting restaurants in its famed Michelin Guides that serve either foie gras or shark fin soup.
“Eating body parts of animals who (sic) were tortured can hardly be considered fine dining…Instead of rewarding restaurants that serve these hideous products, Michelin should disqualify them from its ratings,” said Tracy Reinman, PETA executive vice president, in a press release.
PETA sent an e-mail letter to Michelin managing partner Michel Rollier (who is retiring in May), which said:
“I’m writing on behalf of PETA and our more than three million members and supporters worldwide concerning Michelin’s awarding stars to restaurants that still serve foie gras or shark fin soup. We hope that after considering the following information, you will be moved to disqualify restaurants from being rated if either item is on the menu.
“Foie gras is made by force-feeding ducks and geese such enormous amounts of grain and fat that their livers become diseased and engorged. People around the world are increasingly associating foie gras with extreme cruelty to animals.
“California has banned the sale and production of foie gras (effective this summer), and force-feeding has been outlawed in more than a dozen countries, including the U.K., Germany, and Israel. World-renowned chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Charlie Trotter have removed foie gras from their menus because of the cruelty inherent in its production. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI denounced foie gras production as a violation of biblical principles, HRH Prince Charles has forbidden it at royal events, and numerous companies worldwide have stopped selling this “delicacy of despair.”
“Please take a moment to watch this video narrated by Kate Winslet, which depicts foie gras production at several major facilities.
“To meet demand for shark fin soup, fishers often cut the animals’ (sic) fins off while they are still alive and dump them back into the water to slowly bleed or suffocate to death. In October, California’s governor signed a bill banning the sale, trade and possession of shark fins to protect the world’s dwindling shark population. California is the fourth state in the U.S. to ban shark fin imports – Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington have already done so.
“I hope you will decide not to give the Michelin star rating to restaurants that still serve foie gras, such as Cyrus and L2O, or to those that serve shark fin soup, such as Sun Tung Lok.
“Please contact me at [e-mail address removed by editor] so that I can let our members and activists know of your decision.”
The letter was signed by Lindsay Rajt, PETA’s associate director of campaigns. There was no word of what – if any – reaction Rollier offered.
* * * * * * * *
Bruce Halle has always been a bit of an enigma.
Well-recognized as the founder of Discount Tire, few people inside or out of the tire industry really know Halle. He has refused to be nominated for the Tire Industry Hall of Fame and passes on most interview requests, even though he built a highly successful 800-location chain of retail tire and service stores in 23 states and a massive national online tire business.
He is clearly a billionaire, surely the industry’s first, according to a brief profile in last year’s Forbes magazine rundown on the nation’s richest people.
But the layers of the onion are now peeling away. Halle sat with business writer Michael Rosenbaum to create the semi-autobiographical “Six Tires, No Plan.” Rosenbaum also spent time with Halle’s family, friends and colleagues in developing material for the 200-page book, available in both hard- and soft-cover versions.
The tome is dedicated primarily to Halle’s rise as founder and now chairman of Discount Tire, and his travails and successes over the past 52 years. Born in New Hampshire, Halle founded the company in 1960, literally (according to legend) with six tires and no real idea what to do with them. In 2010, having figured that out, Discount Tire posted gross sales in excess of $3 billion.
The book is available through independent publisher Greenleaf Book Group (greenleafbookgroup.com).
