Philly Foiesteak
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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6 Comments:
why dont they ban fur coats first??? the fur industry is infinitely more cruel and wasteful. this is so ridiculously stupid. it's just blatant demagoguery.
seyo at 11:44AM on 10/15/07
I live in Philly, and I'm appalled that with our current Murder problem the City Council is insulting the voters by addressing this.
And I agree that compared to the way we treat the cows and chickens we eat, ducks and geese don't have it so bad.
pgoat at 12:20PM on 10/15/07
I always thought that aside from the whole overfeeding thing (which is only for like the last 10 days of the duck/goose's live) foie gras was significantly less cruel than standard poultry farming. I mean since there is such a limited market for the product the foie gras animals are raised on small farms where they are free-range and only confined in the overfeeding stage, and even the force feeding is designed to be as cruelty-free as possible.
Frankly, the chickens with the oversized breasts that make walking near impossible seem to have it a lot worse than foie grais ducks/geese. The only reason foie gras is targeted is because it is seen as elitist and excessive. It is perceived as a luxury only rich food snobs eat that isn't necessary for human consumption and therefore it is easy to garner up support against it, even from people who live on factory farmed chicken. What is frightening is that most activists against foie gras ultimately want to ban all meat from restaurants and the food supply, but they are starting with foie gras because they can portray it as inhumane and unnecessary.
chasgoose at 12:50PM on 10/15/07
Wait, what does this entry have to do with cheese?
In my mind, there are actually two different issues. 1) Is foie gras production cruel or not? 2) Should foie gras production be banned?
I find it somewhat amazing how anybody could really think about the issue and not conclude that its humaneness is questionable at best. I agree that it should not be banned, since banning things is (clearly) polarizing and counter-productive. But the argument that there are many worse practices out there is in no way a point in favor of foie gras.
Also, people love to say that the AVMA and AAAP have concluded that foie gras production is not cruel. This is patently false. In fact, the AVMA has merely refused to take a stance one way or the other. I am not aware of an official stance taken by the AAAP (there is nothing on their web site). Anyone who is interested should read a recently released "backgrounder" on foie gras production on the AVMA website here: http://www.avma.org/reference/backgrounders/foie_gras_bgnd.asp.
They spend a good deal of time discussing the potential animal welfare problems associated with foie gras, including references to the majority of studies out there, although in their summary they conclude that more and better controlled studies are necessary. This is a convenient way to remain neutral on the issue, since nobody in their right minds will fund those studies.
sfchin at 1:34PM on 10/15/07
I don't think foie gras production in this country is very cruel at all. And in comparison to the way most of our animals are raised, those geese and ducks have it pretty good. Especially the producers in the United States. There just isn't a big enough market here for there to be factory farmed foie gras here. There is factory foie in Europe and I would avoid that.
The problem people have with foie gras is that they anthropomorphize the animals. You or I would not like having a funnel put into our mouth and grain dropped in to our stomach. But we are also not ducks. We also wouldn't like floating around in frigid water while dunking our heads to eat stuff off the bottom.
The people who are behind foie gras bans really want ALL meat banned. But they know that's impossible. They'd make a much bigger difference trying to improve the welfare of animals destined for the grocery store, but again they know that Joe and Jane Sixpack don't want to pay $4+ for a dozen eggs and $4+ pound for chicken. So they attack the low hanging fruit.
arbeck at 7:14PM on 10/15/07
Several studies have been conducted by Daniel Guémené, PHD, Director of Research and Senior Scientist at the French National Institute of Agronomic Research, and have shown that the techniques used in foie gras production do not cause stress or anxiety to the animals. In addition, his studies have found that the effects of foie gras production are reversible and do not cause disease in the animals.
Here are a few facts about foie gras production which I recieved from Artisan Farmers Alliance (for more, see LegalFoieGras):
- Ducks lack a gag reflex. Their esophagi have an insenitive lining, allowing them to swallow large fish and other prey. This allows for the insertion of a feeding tube which does not cause pain.
- In nature, ducks fatten their livers for energy, prior to migration, and the effect is reversible.
- Independent veterinarians and scientists have concluded that the hand-feeding of ducks for foie gras causes no harm to them.
- American foie gras is raised on small-scale sustainable farms using artisal methods. (As other comments have pointed out, this makes foie gras an easy target for animal extremists.)
- A misinformation campaign orchestrated by extremists is confusing the public with falsehoods and misrepresentation about foie gras.
The organizations attacking foie gras really are trying for TOTAL ANIMAL LIBERATION. That means no meat at all, no fish tanks, no seeing eye dogs. The elimination of foie gras is one step toward their extremist, minority, and very well-funded mission.
iheartfoiegras at 9:57AM on 10/16/07