Tidbits

"If the foie gras ban lead to an overhaul of our entire meat production system it would be worthwhile."

Well, maybe some day it will. Not that I'm holding my breath but it'll be a wonderful day when we become a little more aware of our lifestyle choices & the impact it has on the rest of the world. (Food, cars, clothing, etc.)

Granted, it's not top priority on my list of society's problems, but I'd still support a ban (to an extent) and applaud anyone who cares enough to devote their time & energy to the cause.

Industrial hog production is as bad, perhaps worse than, foie gras production in terms of cruelty. And the impact is much greater, since the scale is so large, it creates so much pollution on top of the inhumane treatment of pigs and some folks do eat industrially produced pork three times a day.

If the foie gras ban lead to an overhaul of our entire meat production system it would be worthwhile. But as it is, it sets up a straw man (straw goose?) so that we can ban a fancy product that most people eat in very small quanitities, if at all, while continuing to ignore the serious problems with the rest of the food system.

stanley,

so why don't we ban veal?

if the focus of this ban is to stop a barbaric process simply to make a gourmet food, it seems there are other foods that should make the cut.

Still, we're surprised someone didn't coined the phrase sooner: Bar-B-Jew.

I can think of good historical reasons why that term might be sorta inappropriate ...

Buttery, I agree completely. But these are not mutually exclusive -- one can advocate for workers' rights and support small-scale farming AND express outrage that something like foie gras is legal.

And "a," expecting some sense of ethical consitency in a legal system doesn't necessarily constitute a "slippery slope." If I came to your house and tortured your pet parrot or abused your cat, you could have me arrested. But if I take dozens of geese, shackle them so they can't move, shove tube downs their throats and force feed them until they're ready to burst (or die from liver failure), then I'm a purveyor of gourmet delicacies? Seriously, it doesn't make any sense at all.

Stanley: I think people are tired at the amount of energy spent on the campaign for such a ban. It's easy to target because of it's demographic (and country of origin). It's not like Americans are getting drive-thru foie gras 3 times a day...how about focusing on supporting small-scale farmers?

Migrant workers in ConAgra plants would benefit from even a fraction of the outrage devoted to this cause.

Once you ban foie gras, though, you might have to ban things like veal or any other animal product deemed to be made in a cruel or inhumane manner. Slippery slope...

There's absolutely nothing "insane" about banning something as barbaric as foie gras production. In a city where someone can be criminally prosecuted for the defenestration of a dog, what's really "insane" is that foie gras is legal in the first place, much less something that otherwise thoughtful and sensitive people would consume under the guise of sophisticated gastronomy.