Philadelphia is the site of the latest battleground involving foie gras. Following in the footsteps of Chicago and California, both of which have laws on the books to ban the sale and consumption of this French delicacy made from the fatted livers of geese and ducks, Philadelphia's city council will be debating a bill put forth by Councilman Jack Kelly that would ban the food from the City of Brotherly Love. An animal rights group called Hugs for Puppies is protesting area restaurants that continue to serve foie gras, while a group of local chefs has banded together as the Philadelphia Chefs for Choice to oppose the ban. (Does this imply that those opposed to a foie gras ban are "pro-choice," while those in favor are "pro-life?").
The debate of course is nothing new, although it is interesting to see that the idea is spreading to cities across the country. Also interesting is that, according to an article on the subject in Time last week, "The American Veterinary Medical Association's House of Delegates and the American Association of Avian Pathologists have concluded that foie is not a product of animal cruelty." This suprises me, since a veterinarian friend of mine (who actually enjoys consuming the occasional fatted goose or duck liver) has argued just the opposite.
Like Anthony Bourdain, I feel like the debate is strange given the well-documented and much larger problem in this country of livestock and poultry abuse on factory farms. The foie gras industry is so much smaller, and yet steals the lion's share of attention for these kinds of issues. We could all do a lot more good by demanding an end to feedlots.
But where do you stand? Is foie gras cruel or not? Do you care? Where do you draw the line between delicious food and inhumane practices?
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