Philly Eateries To Ban Certain French Food
Can't we just ban the French instead?
Foie gras, that snotty French version of Underwood Deviled Ham, is about to be banned from certain snotty French resturaunts in the City of Brotherly Love.
To make foie gras — French for "fat liver" — farm-raised moulard ducks are force-fed corn through a funnel put down their necks until their livers expand to at least six times normal size.
Those who love foie gras and those who abhor it agree there's no other way to make the silky food that, when it gets to a restaurant plate, can cost more than $20 for a 2-ounce portion. What's at issue is whether it hurts the ducks — and whether local government has any business telling people what they can't eat.
"It's egregious cruelty, and it's unnecessary," says Gene Bauston of the Farm Sanctuary, an animal welfare advocacy group and anti-foie gras campaigner. "Treating other animals that way takes a piece out of our own humanity."
Chefs, restaurateurs and producers say that ducks are not hurt by the force-feeding and enlarged livers, and that banning foie gras is a government intrusion into people's right to eat what they wish. After foie gras, they predict, the next items on the banned menu will be lobster (boiled alive), rabbit (a popular pet) and eggs from hens raised in cages (already eliminated or reduced in the dining halls of 85 colleges).
"The people behind that are not against foie gras; they are against consumption of poultry, meat and fish. Foie gras is an easy target," says Ariane Daguin, whose company, D'Artagnan, is the largest retailer of foie gras. "Next lobster, next rabbit. Myself, I believe I'm lucky to find myself on top of the food chain. I think God created rabbits and ducks for me to enjoy. And soft-shell crabs."
Why no concern for the tunas when the animal rights weenies clamor for "dolphin free tuna". It must suck to be a tuna.
Can't we just ban the French instead?
Foie gras, that snotty French version of Underwood Deviled Ham, is about to be banned from certain snotty French resturaunts in the City of Brotherly Love.
To make foie gras — French for "fat liver" — farm-raised moulard ducks are force-fed corn through a funnel put down their necks until their livers expand to at least six times normal size.
Those who love foie gras and those who abhor it agree there's no other way to make the silky food that, when it gets to a restaurant plate, can cost more than $20 for a 2-ounce portion. What's at issue is whether it hurts the ducks — and whether local government has any business telling people what they can't eat.
"It's egregious cruelty, and it's unnecessary," says Gene Bauston of the Farm Sanctuary, an animal welfare advocacy group and anti-foie gras campaigner. "Treating other animals that way takes a piece out of our own humanity."
Chefs, restaurateurs and producers say that ducks are not hurt by the force-feeding and enlarged livers, and that banning foie gras is a government intrusion into people's right to eat what they wish. After foie gras, they predict, the next items on the banned menu will be lobster (boiled alive), rabbit (a popular pet) and eggs from hens raised in cages (already eliminated or reduced in the dining halls of 85 colleges).
"The people behind that are not against foie gras; they are against consumption of poultry, meat and fish. Foie gras is an easy target," says Ariane Daguin, whose company, D'Artagnan, is the largest retailer of foie gras. "Next lobster, next rabbit. Myself, I believe I'm lucky to find myself on top of the food chain. I think God created rabbits and ducks for me to enjoy. And soft-shell crabs."
Why no concern for the tunas when the animal rights weenies clamor for "dolphin free tuna". It must suck to be a tuna.
posted by Kevin Whiteman at
9:05 PM
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