Per a report in the New York Times, the New York City Council has voted to ban the sale of foie gras in the city by 2022. Offered primarily in upscale French restaurants, foie gras is fatty duck or goose liver, produced by force-feeding a high-calorie mixture through a gastric tube for several weeks prior to slaughter.
As one might expect, French chefs and foie gras producers are not happy with the decision; others, myself included, wonder why such cruelty has continued in our "enlightened era" and why the ban will not take effect until 2022. Our stewardship of the planet should certainly not include such a practice, however tasty (or lucrative) the product might be.
Of course, the great majority of Americans will not notice the unavailability of foie gras. On the other hand, if they were to directly witness the processes involved in providing their beef, pork, chicken and veal, they might have second thoughts about eating meat altogether. Animal cruelty and the mass production of meat cannot be divorced.
As one might expect, French chefs and foie gras producers are not happy with the decision; others, myself included, wonder why such cruelty has continued in our "enlightened era" and why the ban will not take effect until 2022. Our stewardship of the planet should certainly not include such a practice, however tasty (or lucrative) the product might be.
Of course, the great majority of Americans will not notice the unavailability of foie gras. On the other hand, if they were to directly witness the processes involved in providing their beef, pork, chicken and veal, they might have second thoughts about eating meat altogether. Animal cruelty and the mass production of meat cannot be divorced.
