On popular food blog Megnut, Michael Ruhlman writes a thoughtful analysis of the latest foie gras flap (the second East Coast proposed food ban this week): New Jersey Assemblyman Michael Panter’s bill to ban the sale of the fatty liver in the state, set to be introduced next week. It appears that Ruhlman actually broke the news—his post ran Wednesday, while the AP story about the bill didn’t appear until yesterday. Ruhlman’s post is based on a tip phoned in by Anthony Bourdain, who followed up with this post on eGullet.
Both Bourdain and Ruhlman do a good job articulating the problems with the proposed ban. As Bourdain points out, foie gras is crucial in the kitchen, a “primary color” in a chef’s palette. And he says that New Jersey–based D’Artagnan, a small specialty-foods company that imports foie and other duck and goose products (which is owned by Ariane Daguin, whom Bourdain compares to Julia Child in her influence on the food world), would likely be put out of business by such a ban. Ruhlman has a political take:
The foie issue embodies the hypocrisy and corruption of so much of how our government operates. That our public officials continue to spend their time and our dollars on this is ludicrous. If they cared about their state and their country, they would address the catastrophe of how we’re raising agri-hogs. That’s truly inhumane. We’re trashing our land and water, growing crappy food, contaminated chicken, feed lot beef and creating lakes of sewage polluted with e coli that gets on our spinach and kills our kids.
In a post about Ruhlman’s piece, titled simply “ARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!,” Accidental Hedonist wonders how New Jersey farmers, hard-hit by the spinach scare, will react to this second slap in the face.
Another N.J. legislator hopes to soften the blow by striking a compromise: Her alternate bill wouldn’t ban the sale of foie gras, but it would require producers in the state to make the liver without force-feeding. I have a feeling that’s impossible—although, according to chef Eve Felder (quoted by Ruhlman last month at Megnut), ducks naturally gorge before migrating, so perhaps they could be coaxed into fattening their own livers? Hmmm. Felder also mentions that ducks don’t have a gag reflex, so the process of force-feeding doesn’t hurt them. I’d always been pretty much on board with the animal-rights arguments against foie gras (which, admittedly, sometimes just meant that I’d have a moment of guilt before chowing down if the dish was put in front of me), but Felder’s unexpected account has made me rethink that stance.
What’s your take—is this ban an unnecessary curtailment of consumer freedom? Or should chefs find other “primary colors” and ditch the foie?
I actually had mixed feelings about the foie gras issue until I read the excellent article linked from here last week about the morality of foie gras. Now, I’m all for keeping it legal. It seems to me like a simple political maneuver to get cuddly with the greener-than-thou crowd.
Please take a second to click to the link for Tony Bourdain’s entry on this. It’s very much worth reading!
Ducks and geese don’t have to be force-fed to fatten up. Just present them with a platter of the same high-fat junk foods that are creating rampant obesity among our youth, put them in front of a TV set, and voila, you’ll get humanely plumpened fowl.
http://www.pitofmystomach.typepad.com
Foie gras is incredibly inhumane no matter how you look at it.
It is impossible to produce humanely, period.
This goes far beyond politics. It’s a moral issue.
“‘Felder also mentions that ducks don’t have a gag reflex, so the process of force-feeding doesn’t hurt them.”
They may not have a gag reflex, but they most certainly are hurt during this process and being that the people that raise these geese are intentionally giving them a liver disease, many of these geese don’t event make it to slaughter. They just die horrible, unnecessary deaths. Please view this video and then see what your stance is.
Here is the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2KQxMv1a6Y
Here is another…….
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/actionalerts/alert_FG7-17-07.htm
I think I would very much like it if the anti foie group would try to understand that other people in the world may have different views on so called moral issues. I realize that you believe that gauvage is immoral. I, on the other hand, do not. Ducks are food, period. Veal is quite nice too. Are you right or am I? If you don’t like it, don’t eat it but stay out of my kitchen and my life.
Please take note that those of us raised on farms generally do not have an anthropomorphic view of animals. They are raised for food and labor and are not equal to humans. It would be nice if our legislators could spend their time helping people with problems rather than worrying about what’s for dinner.