A Ban On Fois Gras?

[joggerjayne]

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/some-members-of-european-parliament-want-to-ban-foie-gras/ar-BBjVwRb

Noooooo!!

[joggerjayne]

NB ...

"Some farms don’t force-feed their birds to make foie gras. At La Pateria de Sousa in Spain, for example, the birds migrate and feed freely from the farm’s plant life"

[sandyRoe]

Yes.
Poor geese are tortured by forced feeding in order that gourmands can perk up their jaded appetites and try and do the same.

[woofgang]

YES!!!! ban gavage!!!!

[anneasquith]

good.

[joggerjayne]

NB ^^

[jakep]

Yes, ban it.

[catswhiskas]

Yes ban it.

[Old_Geezer]

Ban force feeding. It is a cruel practice thus immoral and should be illegal.

I think it difficult to believe that an animal does it to themselves, without first being forced into the habit though.

[mikey4444]

If this stuff can be produced by non-cruel means, than so be it.

I have always thought pink veal, as opposed to white veal, should be widely available. Its delicious and almost fat-free. But 10,0000's of boy calves are destroyed each year. Seems a terrible waste to me.

[jourdain2]

I echo jogger! It's delish, especially with onion or fig confit. Seriously, the old practice of tubes down the throat is fast disappearing as demand goes up and tiny farms cannot meet the supply - geese are greedy and if food is in front of them they eat. I was an 'anti' until I lived in France and found out a bit more.

There are quite a few who would argue that the geese don't mind the tube and having seen this process I have to say that they don't look unduly disturbed - I prefer the more natural 'lots of food - eat' method.

[Old_Geezer]

Different subject I know, but one can not cream off the milk unless one eats the young that normally would quaff it. Ok, maybe the quantities the cow produces these days might create excess, but we'd be neck deep in calves.

[bookbinder]

I don't believe that anyone would starve to death if foie gras were to disappear.

[Deskdiary]

I love fois gras (on the rare occassions I have had it) and would hate to see it banned. I am aware of la gavage.

Just to annoy people even more, I also love veal and calves liver.

Animals are bred for our food and, frankly (and to really really annnoy people) I couldn't really give a tinker's cuss how it gets to my plate, just so long as it tastes delicious.

France will never ban it.

[mikey4444]

DeskDiary...if Fois Gras and veal could be produced in a manner which doesn't incur cruelty, wouldn't that be better than our present method ?

[woofgang]

veal in the Uk is produced without keeping the animal on milk. Bull calves from the milk industry which would otherwise be slaughtered at birth are raised to produce rose veal.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/eat-british-veal-with-a-clear-conscience-says-rspca-899778.html

[woofgang]

so this isn't true then?
"In France, the country where foie gras is most deeply embedded in the culture, the product is DEFINED BY LAW as the liver of a goose or duck fattened by a feeding tube, a process known as “gavage”.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/14/can-foie-gras-ever-be-ethical

[mikey4444]

Thanks woofy ! I like pink veal, but its hard to get, especially in supermarkets, although someone told me that you can get it in Aldi or Lidl.

[jourdain2]

Woofgang, didn't know about that law - but they have many laws in France that are quietly ignored! A lot are still Napoleonic - until a couple of years ago it was against the law for women to wear trousers - the lady policemen complained (it was their uniform) and there was a movement to repeal it, which may have happened by now.

I never bought foie gras, but it would have been incredibly rude to refuse to eat it when offered and I spoke to quite a few people who explained the changes. The industry is important and France will never give it up, but want to make it acceptable to others - hence the 'goose, here's lots of food' approach. I don't support gavage, but I stick to it that the geese did not look distressed in any way.

[woofgang]

I don't think it will be banned in France, I do think though that it will become less acceptable worldwide. If its true that geese will stuff themselves to the point of making harvestable amounts of foie gras without gavage, I wonder why gavage was ever used?