Foie Gras Still off the Menu

A California ban on the sale of foie gras continues to be upheld despite a challenge through the Court of Appeals.

Paws Up!
To the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for upholding California’s ban on the sale of foie gras.

Foie gras is no delicacy and the state of California knows that. It banned the sale of the product in the state and now a court of appeals has upheld a challenge to that ban.

Foie gras, French for “fatty liver,” is the food product that results from ducks and geese being force fed to increase the size of their livers to the point of exploding. Considered a delicacy by some, foie gras is manufactured in an inherently inhumane manner. Ducks and geese have their mouths forced open with a metal tube that is then shoved down their throats. Feed is forced into them numerous times a day through these tubes until their livers become engorged. Some birds die before they can be slaughtered at three months of age because they develop a condition known as hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease.

Take Action: Thank the court for upholding California’s ban. Additionally, never order or serve foie gras. It is not a delicacy; it is the product of animal abuse.

The Honorable Alex Kozinski
Chief Judge
c/o Office of the Circuit Executive
U.S. Courts for the Ninth Circuit
P.O. Box 193939
San Francisco, CA 94119-3939

Stop Selling Foie Gras

Amazon.com is selling foie gras, a product that results from force feeding ducks and geese.

Amazon.com sells foie gras. Foie gras, French for “fatty liver,” is the food product that results from ducks and geese being force fed to increase the size of their livers to the point of exploding. Considered a delicacy by some, foie gras is manufactured in an inherently inhumane manner. Ducks and geese have their mouths forced open with a metal tube that is then shoved down their throats. Feed is forced into them numerous times a day through these tubes until their livers become engorged. Some birds die before they can be slaughtered at three months of age because they develop a condition known as hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease.

For these reasons, we ask you to contact Amazon.com and urge the company to discontinue selling foie gras.

Jeffrey P. Bezos, CEO
Amazon.com, Inc.
1200 12th Ave. South, Ste. 1200
Seattle, WA 98144-2734

When you think about it…should the rich be judged by different standards where animals are concerned?

When you think about it…should the rich be judged by different standards where animals are concerned?

Photo by cobalt123/Flickr

Several weeks ago, a news article announced that Prince William bought hundreds of birds for his brother to shoot. The gift was in recognition of Prince Harry’s 27th birthday.

Just because someone has the means to do whatever he or she wants, does that mean the person lives by a different standard when it comes to protecting the lives of animals? Because of wealth, position, celebrity status, or station in life, are those who possess the means exempt from certain values others of us aspire to?

For those of extreme wealth who prefer to kill for the sport of killing—not for any subsistence living that might come from the flesh of the animals shot, their mantra is often “It’s tradition.” It appears tradition often trumps logic or compassion. However, the “We’ve always done it this way” approach simply cannot stand the scrutiny of today’s press for living a more humane, compassionate lifestyle .

Even when a rich person professes to doing good deeds with his or her money, the result may be more catastrophic, than helpful. Witness Bob Parsons of GoDaddy attempting to defend his shooting of an elephant as a philanthropic deed done to feed villagers and protect their crops. Yet, he spent about $60,000 to $70,000 on the trip itself, including huge hunting fees to the government. None of that money will ever be seen by the villagers to help them out of poverty and degradation.

Of course, there are some people who are exceptionally wealthy, have status and power, are in the public eye, and do work diligently for animal welfare causes—Bridget Bardot, Pamela Anderson, Bob Barker, Steven Segal, Madeleine Pickens, Betty White, Paul McCartney, among many others.

When you think about it…the rich who take the lives of other species may be truly poor in compassion for their fellow travelers on this planet Earth.

When you think about it…a little diseased liver on crackers has little appeal

Photo by David Monniaux

Foie gras—pretty sounding words in French. But, foie gras, translated into English, means “fatty liver.” Fatty livers are unhealthy livers. Fatty livers are, in fact, diseased livers. Yet the words foie gras make diseased liver sound elegant, upscale, expensive, a delicacy.

To get diseased livers, ducks and geese are force-fed through tubes inserted down their throats so their livers increase to the diseased state necessary for harvesting. Of course, to harvest these diseased livers, the birds must be slaughtered. So, first we make the birds sick, then we kill them, then we eat their diseased organ.

Some communities in the United States have banned the sale of foie gras, and some countries in the European Union have banned the force-feeding of ducks and geese. The technique of force feeding (gavage) dates back to 2500 BC when ancient Egyptians began keeping birds for food.

Just as drinking cow breast milk possesses a strong “ewww” factor so does eating diseased bird liver. Petit fours, also French, is a sweet, a confection often eaten at the end of a meal—or anytime anyone has a serious sugar craving. They are elegant, upscale, expensive, a delicacy, and, most importantly, humane. When you think about it…eating something with a French sounding name should uplift us—eating petit fours does, eating diseased livers doesn’t.

Foie Gras Ban

Paws Up!
To the Hawaii state legislature for considering legislation to ban the sale of foie gras in Hawaii.

HB 77 would prohibit the possession, sale, trade, or distribution of foie gras in Hawaii starting in July 2012.

Foie gras, French for “fatty liver” and considered a delicacy by some, is manufactured in an inherently inhumane manner. Ducks and geese have their mouths forced open with a metal tube that is then shoved down their throats. Feed is forced into them numerous times a day through these tubes until their livers become engorged. Some birds die before they can be slaughtered at three months of age because they develop a condition known as hepatic lipidosis.

California is set to ban foie gras next year and Chicago banned it two years ago but the ban was overturned.

Take Action: Hawaii residents, write polite letters to your legislators letting them know you are in support of banning foie gras.

Source:
www.capitol.hawaii.gov/

Foie Gras Falling out of Favor

Paws Up!
To the National Capital Commission for removing foie gras from the menu at the Taste of Winterlude event in Ottawa and to the Aramark Corporation for no longer distributing foie gras.

The force feeding of geese and ducks to produce diseased livers, which are then harvested and turned into what is considered a delicacy in some circles, has come to an end in other circles.

Photo by forester357

Recently, the National Capital Commission informed chefs participating in its upcoming Taste of Winterlude foie gras could not be on their menus. Only one chef has withdrawn his participation, not wanting to alter his recipes, even though there is a vegetarian substitute for foie gras.

The Aramark Corporation, one of the world’s leading food service providers, has decided it will no longer distribute foie gras after executives of the corporation were shown video of ducks and geese being force fed.

Great Britain, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Israel, Turkey, and Argentina, among other countries, have banned the production of foie gras within their borders. Some U.S. states have partial bans.

Take Action: Write letters of thanks to the National Capital Commission and the Aramark Corporation for their stand against foie gras.

Marie Lemay, Chief Executive Officer
National Capital Commission
202–40 Elgin Street
Ottawa ON K1P 1C7
Canada
E-mail: info@ncc-ccn.ca

~

Joseph Neubauer

 

 

 

 

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Aramark Corporation
1101 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Tele.: 800-ARAMARK

Source:
www.ctv.ca/
food-management.com/