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Bourdain's Foie Gras Politics
Perhaps not surprisingly, Chicago’s foie gras ban has become a libertarian touchstone. The issue outed Charlie Trotter as a libertarian, and currently serves as shorthand for various kinds of prohibitions that libertarians hate.
So it’s no wonder that libertarians love Anthony Bourdain (while they simultaneously despise Rachael Ray). Bourdain’s pro–foie gras stance goes along nicely with his other antiregulation stances (he’s also anti–smoking ban). But whether or not Bourdain actually was a libertarian or not remained an open question until recently. In a video on libertarian magazine Reason’s video site, Bourdain discusses foie gras and his own “libertarian instincts”:
When you look at the EU, that’s kind of the future for this country. ... There seems to be an assumption that the government owes you absolute safety, absolute security, absolute purity. Those things kind of scare me, especially when they’re wrong much of the time. ... On one hand, I don’t want people putting battery acid in my food. But on the other, I don’t … feel like I need a 20-page informational pamphlet telling me the cholesterol and contents of every special at every restaurant, as some people have suggested....
Essentially we’re being infantilized by our government. ... It’s the first thing you learn—what you do and don’t put in your mouth. Apparently American adults can’t be trusted with making those kinds of decisions. Now on one hand, that’s shocking and offensive to my libertarian instincts. But on the other hand, this is a country of unbelievable fat bastards—we’re dropping dead left and right.
In other foie gras news, the ever-politically-unpredictable hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons has come out in support of Chicago’s ban. Foie gras politics: Look for the lapel buttons coming soon.
Posted by
| Friday, November 30, 2007 at 8:01pm
| 34 comments
Tagged with: anthony bourdain, charlie trotter, russell simmons, foie gras, foie gras ban, chicago, reason, libertarianism, politics, libertarian, the grinder, media
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Advocacy gone bezerk. I believe in the MYOB platform. You hate Foie Gras or the way the geese are treated...good. don't eat it, but don't tell me what I can or can't put in my mouth. I will make my own formed decision...remember those?!
Personally, I don't care for the taste of foie gras, but as long as the geese aren't having the feed jammed down their throats, eat away! Come on, most animals are bred and fed for consumption anyway: cows, chickens, pigs, etc... Not much difference there.
As for the nutritional info, I'm glad it's out there if I want it. Now if I'm going into McFlinger's, Crapplebee's or some such place, I know what I'm walking into. But I would like to know if the contents in their "lite" options are like the "sale" rack at a high end store...more than I want to pay normally anyway. I know the Blooming onion and green bean fries (with ranch dressing) are PROBABLY bad for me, but I just want to know what's going into other things on the menu.
I'll probably piss a few people off by saying this, but I will literally dance a jig if the tobacco industry were to shut down tomorrow. Nothing would make me happier than if smoking ceased to exist. I would shed a few tears for the loss of jobs as it IS a huge industry, but I've never seen the constructive purpose of smoking. Sure it relaxes you, takes the edge off, but I do plenty of things to accomplish the same goal and NONE of them increase my risk of heart attack, cancer or emphysema. I watched a lot of people I loved go to an early grave because of smoking. Was it the only thing that contributed to their deaths? No. But to say smoking had nothing to do with it or was a minimal part of it would be incredibly naive on my part. Sure, the argument is made that people choose to smoke, but they don't choose what goes into their cigarettes. They don't choose to have tobacco companies market to kids to capture that brand loyalty at an early age. One final note: to steal (somewhat, paraphrasing) from Bill Maher for a moment if I may, tobacco companies doing "community service" today are like the date rapist who says, "Yeah, I raped you, but let's focus on the nice time we had earlier in the evening". And...I'm off the soapbox now. Thanks for listening.
I think that the foie gras issue is legitimate material for discussion, especially since it has become the lazy chef's go-to ingredient, but ultimately I'm pro foie. I think that Bourdain is correct that this is actually a stalking horse for PETA and the vegetarian movement, because it's an easy win, after which the apparent logic can be extended to cover all meat. And I'm not a paranoid libertarian. (I actually approve of the evolution of the regulatory state.)
Hehe, whoever wrote that Rachael Ray article on how she epitomizes Marxism or whatever: that person is cr-azy! I've never had the chance to try foie gras and I'm saddened because I think by the time I'll be able to foie will banned from the US or something: I think that issue may be on Hilary's campaign.
I love foie gras but i can't handle the guilty feeling I get when I eat it, so I avoid it. But if YOU want it, go right ahead and enjoy! I hate when people get "preachy" about what you should and shouldn't eat. Mind your business!
As for the smoking, I'm a smoker and don't really mind the smoking ban in restaurants. But I don't think it should be banned. But I'm also one of "those" who think pot and prostitution should be legalized (why am i talking about hookers on a food site?).
In a nutshell, I agree with ny.foodie. I'm not an idiot, let me make my own decisions.
Im with you, Hotsauce. (Ditto on the pot and hookers). The world is full of legislators that want to protect us from ourselves. Well before I became an adult, I decided that when I did reach an age of independence, I would enjoy what I enjoy with impunity. I don't need a law to tell me that foie gras/smoking/trans fats are bad for me. Its my choice. As a "recovering" cigarette smoker, I admit its nice to eat in a smoke-free reastaurant. But don't mess with my food. There are enough vegans in the world to make me feel guilty about my hamburger lunch -- if I want veal, pate and ice cream for dinner, its none of your business!
OK, now. This really rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know where to begin, but let's give it a shot, in no particular order:
1. I *really* like Anthony Bourdain (not having ever met him in person, so what gives); that is to say I like his attitude from the shows I've seen, andd the books I've read. I have my issues with him, but in general, I like his style and agree on a variety of subjects.
2. I like foie gras. I don't need to have it more than, say, twice a year, and certainly not in large quantities (mostly because of its insane richness), but seared foie gras is a pleasure. However, as a teen -- with all the sanctimony & conviction that comes with that age -- I was a vegetarian and staunch opponent of the practice of force-feeding geese. I'm still not crazy about the process involved to create this delicacy, however -- the industrial meat, poultry and egg production in this country is a much bigger and more relevant issue, so it really just seems like a pet-peeve & and an easier target than tackling Big Meat.
3. I used to be a pretty heavy tobacco smoker (think 2 packs/day), but have given that up pretty much 6 years ago, with the occasional slip-up during summers in Europe/Germany, where (at least until the end of this year), smoking is pretty much allowed anywhere.
Which brings me to what really ticked me off in this article: if I recall correctly, the whole smoking ban business started in the U.S., NOT in Europe. Americans have been complaining about smoky bars in Europe, and Germany in particular for as long as I can remember, it is THEIR fixation on health, cleanliness, hygiene, (puritanism, anyone?) etc etc. that has swept over to other countries.
Same with the nutritional information on food products. When I first visited the U.S. in the late 90s, I was pretty perplexed to read the nutritional value of the contents of a water bottle (whoa, 0% sat fat? you don't say!).
Most products in Europe will NOT give you that kind of information; if you're 'lucky', it'll tell you the fat content (in dairy, for example), or *maybe* the calorie count. Of course, we don't buy nearly as much processed sh!t as people in America.
What I find most surprising is that Bourdain would blame this semi-fascist health trend on Europe, which he has visited many times -- when he should know better.
The idea that the government/state has to be everyone's parent seems to be much more of a fact in the U.S. ('can't have medium-rare meat'; 'drink responsibly' and so on and so on...) than in Europe, where people are treated as adults with, yes, Free Will.
I am more of a liberal than libertarian, but that comes with the territory of having grown up in Germany -- where pot use is tolerated & prostitution is legal.
Take that, Bourdain. ;-) Can't wait to see his episode on Berlin in January, though!
We love Anthony Bourdain like almost no one else, but it's a bit tough to abide complaints about the public health costs of obese people coming from a guy who smokes. We hope AB remembers that my tax dollars will surely work overtime curing his emphysema one day.
Pax -
Only if he is on Medicaid, which he is assuredly not.
Give me foie, or give me death . . .
i have heard that the geese are force fed and i have heard that this is a rumor
so i don't know what the truth is but.....
IF and i say IF it is true that they are, than it s/b stopped
look i am not a vegan or anything, but OK we eat meat and animals die but it is not right to abuse and torture them before that
Foodperv, if we didn't eat animals that were tortured/abused beforehand, we would all be vegans.
Hopefully all the animals can be speared pain beforehand moving forward some day...
Pretty sure Russell Simmons is a vegetarian . . .
I'm pretty sure Russell Simmons is a vegetarian . . .
Excuse me, ny.foodie ..... how are you going to "spear" the pain for those animals?
I like foie. The geese are force fed, but less so than in the past. I saw a video while attending the CIA about 8 years ago (not a peta propaganda video) that showed the funnels in the birds' throats. The difference is that they used to nail their feet down, now they don't. My issue with foie is that it treats the animal like a liver factory, similar to how we treat chickens as egg factories and dairy cattle... I think it's okay to eat any of these things, but to claim that it's respectful to the animal? Not so much. We can eat animals that are not tortured nyfoodie, we just have to look harder and demand that "producers" do it right.
no ny foodie the diff is killing as quick as possible and not torturing beating kicking etc....
as a matter of fact if the people at the slaughter house were more closely monitored as to the way they treat the animals and fined, jailed or fired based on their actions the vegans (yes they will still complain) would be a little less fanatical about it because THE biggest complaint most of them have is the abuse and carelessness that goes on
Okay, so we fat American bastards should be so grateful to Bourdain for heading the anti-infantilization crusade against the banning of foie gras because "I don’t … feel like I need a 20-page informational pamphlet telling me the cholesterol and contents of every special at every restaurant".
Meanwhile, he blasts Rachel Ray for advertising Dunkin Donuts as a contributor to our fat American bastard waistlines? Doesn't it strike anyone else as morally convenient that he finds the time to rail against the banning of foie gras as none of the gubment's beeswax, yet he demonizes Rachel Ray on her Dunkin Donuts endorsement every chance he gets because he's apparently so worried that it contributes to the fattening of America?
What an ass.
Any libertarian who's against the foie ban, who isn't also against the various horse, dog and cat meat bans, is a bigger chicken shit than the nanny staters they rail against. At least the nanny staters stand for something. The hypocritical libertarians stand for nothing except themselves, and what's so special about standing for chicken shit ?
I don't eat foie. Mostly because its gross (see post in CH gen discussion). I think my hesitancy to try it was because of the fervent circulation describing how it is produced. Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean it should be banned. It doesn't hurt me that you (or Bourdain for that matter) eats it. I agree wholeheartedly with choctastic. Rachel Ray is a much smarter, and better person than Bourdain (obviously she is a household name among all, while mostly only foodies know Bourdain). I mean whats with the grudge, is he jealous that she is better known, richer, happier in life and better looking than he is or what?
Smoking on the other hand does hurt me. I don't smoke, but my risk for cancer and emphysema goes up everytime someone in the same room (or restaruant) lights up. I voted for the first time ever when that anti smoking law was passed.
I like foie, but I wouldn't care if it were banned tomorrow. As far as I can tell, civil rights and freedoms in this country haven't been set back by banning horse and dog meat, so why would banning the abused liver of one type of fowl suddenly lead us down a slippery slope ? (And if those other bans were lifted, I'd be right in line to sample Secretariat and Lassie. Garfield, I'm not so sure. I think Sweeney Todd might have turned me off that one.)
As far as smoking, I always wondered where I could find fart-in-a-can, so that everytime some asshole lit up near me, I could cut one right into their airspace. Even better if it were mixed with a little hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, ammonia, benzopyrene and arsenic.
To choctastic:
The obvious difference between doughnoughts/donuts and foie gras is that I've never met anyone who eats 1+ serving(s) of foie gras per day, but many who eat 1+ doughnoughts per day. Overall, the fatass American should be fearing the dough, not the liver.
Well, let's just clear up one thing. OF COURSE, the geese are force-fed. If you choose to eat foie gras, then at least be honest about what you are choosing to eat. Each meal the geese have corn mush stuffed down their throat. This 'serving size' would be the equivalent of you eating 30 lbs of pasta in one sitting. Think YOU could take it without being in pain? What would your quality of life be if that is what you had to eat at each meal?
What folks are calling the 'humaine' and 'modern' method is mostly the fact that some feeders have switched to using rubber hosing to get the mush inside the geese, instead of metal funnels, which is, of course, more painful.
What really makes me sad is that so many of the above commentators say something along the lines of "well, it doesn't hurt ME, so who cares. Everyone should be able to do what they want, as long as I don't get hurt." Wow, is that really how public policy should be determined?
Hmmm....I wonder how foie gras would taste in a biscuit? No, really, I've never had foie but the 'nanny state' that our government is becoming is just another sign of the feminization of America. For the first 2 centuries of USA's history, men called the shots, whereas now it looks like womens instincts and standards are setting the tone. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it is different though, especially if you're a 'please just leave me alone' type guy with a bias towards personal freedom. Stop with the cradle to grave coddling already, ok?
biscuitbaker, I don't agree with your analysis. Here in NYC, a male--Mayor Bloomberg, specifically--is leading the charge in banning trans fat from fast-food restaurants. Now it's catching on in many states. He was also the one who banned smoking from bars, etc. Last I checked, he did not have a sex change operation.
As for Bourdain, I agree with others who think he's jealous or Rachael Ray, etc., and their fame and earnings. I don't know, but in my line of work, and for most people I know, if I were to continually criticize and belittle my coworkers in public, HR would be down my throat immediately.
dump123456789, you're hilarious! I laughed so hard at your response!
well..AB is always a hot topic here.
1. I don't think he's jealous of R.Ray, it either started as snarkey and is now a running joke, or he really doesn't care for the mass-market shiny happy plastic world that she promotes. doubt it's jealousy, he's pretty successful too.
2. the government isn't entirely forcing these things on us, all these issues get voted on. sure there are lobbyists but we still get a vote, either with our congressman or our wallets. this isn't communism here.
3. (re: biscuitbaker) I really don't understand how a food choice becomes masculine or feminine. honestly, that's just wierd. are women all supposed to eat dainty salads while all the men chow down on 2,000 calorie heart attack burgers?
4. I don't like the "processing" of foie gras and therefore don't eat it, but I don't think it's the governments place. force feeding cornmeal to geese is no less cruel than other factory farming methods that give the animal a horrible quality of life. if you're worried about foie gras, then you should also be worried about where your eggs, milk, and meat come from and why it's so affordable at wal-mart
I'm all for letting Americans eat themselves to death, but is it necessary to torture ducks in the process?
To hungry_pangolin.
Anthony Bourdain only focuses on donuts because he hates Rachel Ray. There are plenty of other, more calorific culprits out there. A donut has a lot fewer calories than some of the drinks at Starbucks, esp the blended ones. Ditto for most items at fast food joints: burgers, burritos. I don't hear him bitching about those things.
If Bourdain was a true libertarian, he'd shut up and stick to swallowing snake testicles on t.v. Oh wait, perhaps Bourdain practices some faux-French offshoot of libertarianism? Jerkoffism perhaps?
bwave, I agree with you that Bourdain has no need to be jealous of Ray since they are both highly successful. I think all that smoking must have messed up his brain. At least she's taking the high road and not stooping down to his level. Then again, neither does Emeril and other chefs he likes to put down.
he gets his rocks off by putting people down
I understand that duck's throats are not like ours, that the force feeding is not like torture to them. I didn't grow up in France eating it. I am not going to start eating it now as it is too expensive and unhealthy. However, I don't agree with bans or informational leaflets from the government either.
Should foie gras necessarily be banned? No. Is it wrong to torture and force feed ducks? Yes. Regulate the manufacturing process.
As for smoking, I think it should be allowed, so long as it's in open outdoor spaces.
I'm all for individual freedoms, but not at the expense of harming others. Remember, everything you do affects somebody in some way.