No more foie gras in Chicago
So, Chicago bans foie gras in restaurants. Beginning in September, no restaurant can serve foie gras in Chicago. Chicago alderman Joe Moore sponsored the ordinance and,
"To convince his colleges, the alderman showed them graphic photographs and a video narrated by movie star Roger Moore that depicted how metal pipes are forced down the throats of geese and ducks so that their livers become engorged by up to 10 times the normal size."
I sure hope that watching a PETA foie gras video wasn't the extent of the research undertaken by Chicago's alderman before voting to ban foie gras. I found the PETA foie gras video narrated by Roger Moore on YouTube and watched it. I also read the Wikipedia entry on foie gras. It's hard to know what to think, having never first-hand witnessed a foie gras farm. But the PETA video clearly leaves out some facts that would give their video a bit more balance (e.g. enlarged livers are found in migratory birds in the wild) and engages in some suspect reasoning.
The passing of this ordinance signals a rising awareness of food production methods, which I support. I only wish its result were more legislation about how animals should be farmed for consumption. Rather than a prohibition of the product, why not laws -- similar to what we have now around organic certification -- regarding humane treatment for all animals? Something about how pigs and chickens and cows must be allowed to go outside, eat grass, fly around, and live natural lives until the times comes.
Posted on April 27, 2006
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