"Ethical" Fois Gras
Animal rights activists have tried to shut down the fois gras business in many paces around the world because it allegedly abuses ducks and geese to force feed them, the purpose of which is to fatten up their livers, creating the richness of the fois gras product. Of course, the force feeding is not the true issue for animal rights/liberationists. It is the killing of the birds. But hey, any port in a storm.
Well, Spain of all places (I say of all places because Spain might grant great apes legal personhood), has turned the table. A company there has found a way to fatten the geese without force feeding.
Needless to say, the liberationists are unassuaged by "ethical" fois gras.
Labels: Animal Rights/Liberation
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 7:27 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I know what foi gras is and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Furthermore I have been to places like France and have been to tours of the foi gras farms. They are treated much better than you think and better than US chickens and turkeys. I had a personal tour and the ducks are dumb they eat what they want until the last month where they do feed by tube but I witnessed it in person and the ducks are not unhappy at all. They are like goldfish in that they love to eat and yes their liver is expanded but they are not treated badly. At least the farms I have seen in France. I commented to him that he could sell more as he had room but he replied," I am happy with my fixed amount I do every year and when they sell out they gone". Maybe US duck farms with our capitalistic tendencies over cram the ducks per square feet and that should be changed, but to outlaw them is NOT right!
Foi gras should be available to anyone whom wants to eat it. The ducks if treated like the farms I visited in France are not treated in humanly. I feel we should make every efforts in making sure all duck farms treat their ducks correctly but not ban them at all! The ducks I witnessed are treated like royalty and only their last month do they get fed twice a day with a tube and believe me they are not suffering.
I will make every effort to educate people that foi gras is a great food and that the ducks are not treated badly! I think ignorant people are taking it to the extreme and should be ashamed at your tactics and misrepresentation of foi gras!
Wesley, I have to disagree with you one one thing. I am not sure how you can claim that animal rights activists are against foie gras not for the forced feeding, but for the fact that the animals are killed. Maybe that means that indeed, I am NOT an animal rights activist. In my opinion, the killing of the animals being force fed is the very best and most humane part of their lives. I am not against killing and eating animals, as long as they have been treated humanely and with the respect they deserve for the role they play in helping to sustain human lives.
However, foie gras does not do much for the health of humans.
Have you not heard of the recent science regarding foie gras?
Foie Gras has been found to be the only food source known to be able to transfer a condition called "amyloidosis" to the human eating the product. http://www.pnas.org/content/104/26/10998.short?rss=1
There is a tremendous amount of information about this on the internet. I will let you do further research.
Solomon concludes that if a person has Alzheimer's, diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis in their family, they should avoid eating foie gras, period. The birds undergo such stress by enduring the force feeding, that they develope a type of bird flu. Their cells get little wrinkles in them, and consuming the diseased product transfers that same condition to the consumer.
I think this might be one way we can know that force feeding is indeed unpleasant (at best) to the animals.
Humanely treated animals taste better and are better for us. Too bad our own compassion isn't enough to dictate loving treatment, but if we have to become diseased before proper legislation is enacted, so be it!
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