Publishing folks around the city are losing their lunches, the NY Observer reports. Just in time for National Eat Lots of Food Day, Leon Neyfakh finds out just how hard the economic crisis has hit the lunchtime meetings in the publishing industry.

The article includes quotes from HarperCollins publisher Jonathan Burnham, retired Viking publisher Al Silverman, and Holt editor-in-chief Marjorie Braman. Most industry insiders bemoaned the loss of these creative expenses. Norton editor Bob Weil gave an insider glimpse at how lunches work:

"[M]eals regularly yield projects that end up being important to him, such as the collection of short stories by previously unknown physician Terrence Holt that he bought from Nicole Aragi six months ago after hearing about it over dinner. Also [Weil added]: 'Someone at The New Yorker recently gave me a tip on someone who's a boxer and a philosopher--that came from a lunch!'"

Bonus points: Any guesses on the identity of that philosopher-boxer?