Flickr user kmeneses

Just in time to help you fatten up for winter, Meat Week, a celebration of all things animal-based, is coming to town next week. From November 7-12, Meat Week, which is brought to you by the people behind Pig Island, Greenmarket, and Just Food, will be "celebrating the farmers, markets and chefs who bring sustainable meat to our tables"—cause for your tongue to celebrate, too, if not necessarily your arteries.

Meat Week kicks off on the 7th with Meat with a Twist, a "farm to cocktail" at City Winery, and continues through the week with butchering demos at the New Amsterdam Market, a kielbasa tasting at the East Village Meat Market, and special tours of Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, amongst other meat-centric activities. Many of the proceeds will go toward helping the local farmers who were hit hard by Hurricane Irene, and it's tough to argue with that. Tickets and more information are available here—just remember to pack your Lipitor.