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Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

nytimes.com

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Re: Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

#31

Post by asjw »

pentae wrote: post #6
sneak wrote: post #3

> Under the law, it will be assumed that all foie gras came from duck or geese that have been force-fed unless “documentary” evidence is provided to the contrary. Guilty until proven innocent seems to be the general trend in NYC these days.

Or maybe lawmakers are just tired of seeing loopholes abused by unscrupulous people. It's like banning shark fin, it just gets taken off the menu but can be ordered in mandarin.

But it's an inversion of innocent until proven guilty nonetheless.

People will find loopholes anyway.

It's not even hard in this case.

Re: Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

#32

Post by ryanlol »

computerex wrote: post #10
sneak wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I encourage you to learn more about it. It is not harmful or painful or cruel, the animals come willingly to the person who feeds them.

The animals are literally force fed with a tube. The animal's liver swells to many times its normal size. I am not sure what you are talking about. There is a reason why this practice is controversial to begin with. Do you have any evidence to the contrary?

>The animals are literally force fed with a tube

You don't have to buy the force fed kind though.

Re: Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

#33

Post by jeswin »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #16
jeswin wrote: post #8

I was surprised to learn that India is the only country[1] to ban the production and import of Foie Gras. Very few people would even know about the dish in India. But anyway, I hope this torturous practice comes to an end worldwide. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras_controversy

Do you eat meat at all? If so, how were the animals raised, slaughtered and processed? This ban seems rather hypocritical to me given the atrocities happening in mass meat production. While there are absolutely terrible things happening in Foie Gras production (I would never, ever buy any products from Hungary, as a for example) the really good stuff is raised quite humanely.[1] To me this just looks like an attempt…

> Do you eat meat at all?

Not anymore; stopped about three years back. It was difficult personally after I became a parent. The rest of my family are meat and fish eaters and I keep out of their preferences.

This can only be done in phases. Raise awareness, ban instances of extreme cruelty, support substitutes etc. I'm very optimistic - Impossible burgers and sandwiches are quite close to the real thing and if prices come down (and we have more choices and availability) it could be a guilt-free, and even healthier alternative.

Re: Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

#34

Post by thaumasiotes »

donw wrote: post #24
sneak wrote: post #3

> Under the law, it will be assumed that all foie gras came from duck or geese that have been force-fed unless “documentary” evidence is provided to the contrary. Guilty until proven innocent seems to be the general trend in NYC these days.

I don't think it is entirely unfair that restaurants be required to prove origin when challenged, especially for commonly counterfeited ingredients. Let's say that I go to a restaurant that claims they only use true cinnamon and Kashmir saffron to flavor a cinnamon roll, which they sell at a premium because of the high-quality ingredients. When challenged, that restaurant needs to be able to show proof that they are…

> Let's say that I go to a restaurant that claims they only use true cinnamon and Kashmir saffron to flavor a cinnamon roll, which they sell at a premium because of the high-quality ingredients.

> When challenged, that restaurant needs to be able to show proof that they are delivering as advertised.

> If it turns out that they were instead using artificial flavors and colors, then they are guilty of fraud, and the punishment should be scaled to the difficulty of detecting infraction.

Can the punishment also be scaled to the harm, or potential harm, caused by the fraud? In a case like this, that would be nothing.

Re: Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

#35

Post by jlengrand »

computerex wrote: post #10
sneak wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I encourage you to learn more about it. It is not harmful or painful or cruel, the animals come willingly to the person who feeds them.

The animals are literally force fed with a tube. The animal's liver swells to many times its normal size. I am not sure what you are talking about. There is a reason why this practice is controversial to begin with. Do you have any evidence to the contrary?

This is a by-product of battery breeding, and not the only way to make foie gras. Geese will feed too much anyways at certain times of the year in their own will. Same as pigs that get removed from their mothers and live in cages barely sized for them. It doesn't have to be that way.

Buying responsibly is a first step, and forbidding torturous practises would be another one. Not killing animals at all is yet another discussion.

Re: Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

#37

Post by calf »

boudin wrote: post #17
computerex wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The animals are literally force fed with a tube. The animal's liver swells to many times its normal size. I am not sure what you are talking about. There is a reason why this practice is controversial to begin with. Do you have any evidence to the contrary?

The actual fact that geese can eat that much and double size (or more) is natural and necessary for their migration. It's possible to make foie gras by just letting the goose eating itself. Acording to my parents when they were living on farms when young, that's the way they were doing it. Just banning the practice of force feeding would make more sense. You can find a few things online about those alternative way ht…

I've read about the acorn foie guy, and wasn't sure how legit the story was. If foie gras can be made by having free range geese and plentiful food for them, that would make foie production even more of a luxury item, but at least that would render the gavage controversy no a longer critical issue.

Re: Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

#38

Post by seanwilson »

dvdbloc wrote: post #27
jeswin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You could argue that an animal had a bad time for any meat. One could certainly make a case for banning animal slaughter, but I suppose it would be practical only after we have good meat substitutes. But in the meantime we could perhaps ban wanton cruelty such as Foie Gras. I'll add veal too to the list now.

I’m not taking a stance on either side here but how can you make this case when animals are killing other animals all the time for food? Or is the case that humans are “above animals” in that we don’t slaughter anything?

> I’m not taking a stance on either side here but how can you make this case when animals are killing other animals all the time for food?

We're not in a survival situation, we have options that don't involve killing animals whereas animals do not, and we don't base our moral choices on what animals do to each other.

Re: Foie Gras, Served in 1k Restaurants in NYC, Is Banned

#39

Post by simonh »

inamberclad wrote: post #5
sneak wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I encourage you to learn more about it. It is not harmful or painful or cruel, the animals come willingly to the person who feeds them.

Hard for them to come anywhere with a tube down their throats, I imagine.

The tube is only inserted during feeding.
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