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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

#51

Post by jillesvangurp »

Nice case of double standards. The practice of force feeding geese looks more cruel than it is. It's basically nothing compared to what we routinely do to chickens and other farm animals. Industrial chicken farming is infinitely more cruel compared to this.

We're talking about organically farmed birds that are kept such that they are fattened up and delicious (aka. in good health) in a way that is the complete opposite of the dystopian life of a chicken bred in cage that needs antibiotics just to survive their miserable life long enough to be slaughtered.

Banning Kentucky fried chicken or other fast food chains would be considered ludicrous. So, is this.

I eat meat and chicken but I'm well aware where it came from. I've had foie gras a couple of times. Not crazy about it but I appreciate it.

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

#52

Post by fulafel »

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…

One man's hypocrisy is another man's whataboutism.

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

#53

Post by 29athrowaway »

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…

Eating meat is not the only way to inflict pain on animals.

Animal tested products are horrible on animals. For example, they test that a soap or a shampoo doesn't irritate eyes too much by putting a concentrated form of the product on some animal's eye over and over again, sometimes rendering them blind. And that's just the beginning. It's just horrible.

Milk doesn't kill cows, but cows can only produce milk after giving birth. You are smart enough to figure out the rest of the story: cows are forced to give birth to calves, the calves are "taken away", and the milk is harvested. The animals get traumatized in the process, crying for days.

Chicken eggs should not require us to kill, but in practice if a male chick is born they're often "sacrificed" (often by being ground alive). The survivors spend their lives in a cage.

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

#54

Post by jamil7 »

cm2187 wrote: post #11
simonblack wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I came here to say the same thing. But it reads much better in the original French.

I can’t help thinking that this has little to do with foie gras, but is part of wider push by vegetarians to ban meat eating. You could argue that an animal had a bad time for any meat.

The push appears to be coming from animal rights groups, many of whom may or may not be vegetarian / vegan. I wouldn't lump this squarely on someone because of their decision to not consume animal products.

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

#55

Post by seanwilson »

dkersten wrote: post #43
seanwilson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> push by vegetarians to ban meat eating Milk and egg production still involve animals being killed for meat though e.g. female diary cows are killed for meat when they stop producing enough milk after a few years and males from diary cows are killed within a month of being born as veal.

I see no issue with free range eggs from a local keeping chickens (where I know that they are, indeed, well treated, well kept and free range) since they lay eggs most days whether you eat them or not and if you don’t use them, they would rot or attract rodents.

> I see no issue with free range eggs from a local keeping chickens

- Male chickens are usually ground up alive within a day of being born because they're not economical to keep for meat. Locally kept chickens still feed into this supply and demand as the egg laying hens have to come from somewhere.

- Egg laying chickens can live for about 8 years but are usually killed after 2 years when they stop producing as many eggs. This happens at free range farms too.

- Also, free range doesn't mean what most people think it does e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_range#Free-range_poultry "In the United States, the USDA free range regulations currently apply only to poultry and indicate that the animal has been allowed access to the outside.[3] The USDA regulations do not specify the quality or size of the outside range nor the duration of time an animal must have access to the outside.[4] ... Free-range chicken eggs, however, have no legal definition in the United States. Likewise, free-range egg producers have no common standard on what the term means"

> since they lay eggs most days whether you eat them or not and if you don’t use them, they would rot or attract rodents.

We bred chickens to lay eggs that often though (wild chickens lay about 10 eggs a year whereas factory chickens lay about 300 which is so much it damages their health) and for them to leave their eggs unprotected (they've been bred to not "brood"). They're forced into this cycle.

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

#56

Post by jamil7 »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #51

Nice case of double standards. The practice of force feeding geese looks more cruel than it is. It's basically nothing compared to what we routinely do to chickens and other farm animals. Industrial chicken farming is infinitely more cruel compared to this. We're talking about organically farmed birds that are kept such that they are fattened up and delicious (aka. in good health) in a way that is the complete opposi…

I can't help feeling a similar way, a small group of wealthy people eating an obscure, traditional food is an easier target and makes for a much better story than addressing the elephant in the room that is mainstream factory farming.

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

#57

Post by oh_sigh »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #51

Nice case of double standards. The practice of force feeding geese looks more cruel than it is. It's basically nothing compared to what we routinely do to chickens and other farm animals. Industrial chicken farming is infinitely more cruel compared to this. We're talking about organically farmed birds that are kept such that they are fattened up and delicious (aka. in good health) in a way that is the complete opposi…

Also, there is some. Anthropocentric thinking going on. A person thinks they wouldn't want a funnel stuck down their throat and forced fed grain. Yet, the birds will line up for it and seem to really enjoy it(for one, they don't have a gag reflex)

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

#58

Post by realusername »

jamil7 wrote: post #56
jillesvangurp wrote: post #51

Nice case of double standards. The practice of force feeding geese looks more cruel than it is. It's basically nothing compared to what we routinely do to chickens and other farm animals. Industrial chicken farming is infinitely more cruel compared to this. We're talking about organically farmed birds that are kept such that they are fattened up and delicious (aka. in good health) in a way that is the complete opposi…

I can't help feeling a similar way, a small group of wealthy people eating an obscure, traditional food is an easier target and makes for a much better story than addressing the elephant in the room that is mainstream factory farming.

It's very far from a "luxury" or "wealthy" item in France, it's something most families will have on their table at Christmas. I don't know where this false luxury stereotype comes from.

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

#59

Post by kmlx »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #51

Nice case of double standards. The practice of force feeding geese looks more cruel than it is. It's basically nothing compared to what we routinely do to chickens and other farm animals. Industrial chicken farming is infinitely more cruel compared to this. We're talking about organically farmed birds that are kept such that they are fattened up and delicious (aka. in good health) in a way that is the complete opposi…

i raise you "tobacco".

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

#60

Post by jamil7 »

realusername wrote: post #58
jamil7 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't help feeling a similar way, a small group of wealthy people eating an obscure, traditional food is an easier target and makes for a much better story than addressing the elephant in the room that is mainstream factory farming.

It's very far from a "luxury" or "wealthy" item in France, it's something most families will have on their table at Christmas. I don't know where this false luxury stereotype comes from.

Right, well I guess I meant in the context of french restaurants in NYC.
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