Welcome ban on foie gras in the UK

[Marigold]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/28/mps-unite-to-call-for-total-ban-on-wicked-foie-gras-in-the-uk

I cannot imagine how or why anyone would have first done this to geese, even under Louis VI.

You can still easily buy it on Amazon, never mind Fortnum & Mason.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=foie+gras+goose&adgrpid=53310536615&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0oCDBhCPARIsAII3C_Et1Jte64Xt_Rx6s4xQmWPnf0ofWFFDLtZdIB7n7AAbv2YYRqofGoUaAkfOEALw_wcB&hvadid=259106604619&hvdev=t&hvlocphy=1006476&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=7149535902413056379&hvtargid=kwd-298555812869&hydadcr=923_1739431&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_2exa9myah7_b

(Or how about a little bit of caviar instead?)
https://www.fortnumandmason.com/beluga-ooo-caviar-125g

 

[MrsBiscuit]

As a confirmed carnivore there have been 2 things I have refused to eat - veal and foie gras - for over 30 years because I lived in SW France in 1989 and saw the means of production. I know there are plenty of other horrible animal related practices, but these are my two, although I don't go as far as to try to persuade anybody else, its personal. I know somebody who won't eat sausages since he worked in a production plant as a student, he is now in his 60s, and my brother spent a week in a local egg producer as a schoolboy, and then refused to touch battery eggs which isn't surprising. I think things you experience as a youngster can mark you deeply. In France we lived on a farm, and it took me months before I realised there were calves being kept in a small barn, just big enough to house a tractor. I know rose veal isn't raised the same way, and indeed, it could be a good thing to eat as a male calf will have some life, but I just can't do it. We found the piece of equipment to force feed geese, and had no idea what it was, and had to ask the farmer, I still remember the word for the process in French 'le gavage'. Living in Portugal I have had to come to terms with animals for meat and their living conditions, all over again. I am in a very rural place, and in a poor community. Animals are still kept in small stone barns, just a few for the family, its understandable in the heat. Goats range every day, but sheep rarely, although I have seen them grazing vineyards in the winter. There are a pair over the road, they were only let out last weekend. As a practice it is dying out, because I think it is illegal to slaughter your own now, although I know people who do it, its a bit disconcerting to walk past a garage with a dead goat hanging, or past an old woman plucking a chicken by the side of the road! However, because I understand more about social dynamics I am a lot less judgemental than I was, although we do try to source food ethically and I respect the fact that the whole animal is used and enjoyed.

 

[Travlr]

I've done some research on foie gras... and I'd like to offer a different perspective. Or at least some information that open minded people might keep in mind before coming to a conclusion set in concrete.
I think the practice is an issue because of two things, physically forced feeding... and an artificially enlarged liver.
The duck (or goose) is forced to swallow a large amount of feed at a time if force feeding is employed. In my research I've seen a lot of waterfowl that have fish (and other large objects) stuck after being swallowed because they are too large to get the entire object down. In fact this is relatively common. I don't believe wet mash delivered with a soft rubber tube would be a problem.
The other thing is that the rich feed is used in order to enlarge the liver, which is the reason for the practice to begin with. In the wild, ducks have a natural seasonal enlargement of the liver as wild grains mature in the fields where they grow. It's a natural event in a ducks life, and probably prompted the artificial practice when humans noticed the enlarged livers in wild ducks at the time the grains matured.
Just a little context so you can have as much information as possible.

 

[Icemaiden]

But there's nothing natural about what's done to the geese & they have no choice in the matter.

I think that before anyone is permitted to eat foie gras, they should have a tube shoved down their throat (with no anaesthetic) and be force fed grain repeatedly for 3 months. If they're still prepared to eat it, they should have to despatch the goose & remove its liver themselves.

 

[JoshB]

I agree that more information is useful @Travlr but in this case I still think it's inhumane. I wish they could farm the ducks and let their livers enlarge naturally. I think I could be ok with the ducks being harvested for something that happens to them *naturally*
But we all know force feeding is inhumane to say the least and so it cannot be condoned.

 

[Travlr]

I agree that more information is useful @Travlr but in this case I still think it's inhumane. I wish they could farm the ducks and let their livers enlarge naturally. I think I could be ok with the ducks being harvested for something that happens to them *naturally*
But we all know force feeding is inhumane to say the least and so it cannot be condoned.

Yeah... no. I don't know and I don't really believe a popular conclusion, which is how many people create an opinion, means they are valid. I'll keep my mind open though, and be patient. I'd like to know if anyone that does it has an opinion...