Should The Be A Ban On Foie Gras?

Foie gras is a delicacy served in restaurants worldwide. It is also one of the largest controversial dishes served in history as well. Foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose that has been purposely fattened by force feeding the birds. It’s known for it is known for its creamy taste. Since the French delicacy is produced by force feeing the animals, or otherwise known as “gavage”, as one can imagine it is a very controversial topic.

The tradition of gavage most likely originated in Egypt, which then influenced the Greeks to adopt the practice. And finally, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, foie gras spread throughout France where it officially became a delicacy. Generally, the practice of force feeding involves a large metal tube, nine to twelve inches long, attached to a funnel inserted into the birds’ esophagus. Then, corn meal is poured into the funnel, to fatten the birds liver to the desired weight. The food is pumped into the stomach by either a pneumatic or manual pump. Each bird consumes, involuntarily, approximately 300-500 grams of corn meal per day, which is far more than what it would usually consume. This process is repeated a few times within one day for about a month, which is when the bird is then slaughtered for its’ liver for the popular “delicacy” foie gras.
The birds are confined to small pens, where there is not enough room for them to live comfortably, nor is it safe. The force feeding process not only damages their esophagi causes liver damage amongst the birds, but can also create emotional distress amongst the animals. Since they live in such small confinements, they are more likely to harm eachother and perhaps themselves as well.
As one can imagine, foie gras is extremely controversial in every aspect. The force feeding process is considered inhumane and extremely cruel, especially since the birds are forced to consume substantially larger amounts of food than they would normally eat for the sole purpose of a tasty and expensive dish. PETA constantly reminds the public by displaying disturbing images of the birds being treated in such an awful manner, they tend to focus on exhibiting these images and informing the public outside of restaurants and stores that sell foie gras.
The demand for foie gras is quite high, and many restaurants and businesses fear banning it. They feel it might damage their sales dramatically if foie gras were to be banned. However, many feel that state by state, soon the United States will become foie gras free. On the other hand, in 2006, the city of Chicago banned the selling of foie gras in all restaurants and stores. Many chefs were maddened by this decision, and therefore the “duckeasy” era occurred. Chefs in various restaurants rebelled and continued to serve the delicacy regardless of the law in effect. Not until recently, did this law reverse, enabling the restaurants in the city of Chicago to serve foie gras once again.
Since the reversal of this act went into effect, obviously members of PETA or any other organization, which is against animal cruelty is enraged. It makes one wonder to what extent people will go to produce an expensive delicacy pleasing to the taste buds, and how serious people are regarding taking a stand against inhumane treatment of animals. They would rather enjoy a rich pate and look the other way while being informed on how it is produced. In order to have a dish banned worldwide, and actually maintain the ban, people need to become more informed and retaliate to those who either serve or sell these dishes.
Throughout this assignment I chose to use a variety of resources including scholarly journals, trade publications, and an article from a credible newspaper which I came across online. I also reviewed the information Wikipedia had regarding my topic of foie gras, and found it extremely useful. However I noted it might not have all been accurate. I kept the information I found on Wikipedia in the back of my mind while using my other resources and found that for the most part, Wikipedia’s information on foie gras agreed with what the other publications had stated. Therefore, I found that Wikipedia’s website was useful in mostly every aspect, however not a totally credible resource to actually cite in my future research papers. I also found it interesting that what I wrote on Wikipedia’s page on foie gras, which was not true, was taken down almost immediately after I posted it. This shows that Wikipedia supervises everything that people decide to post on their website, and attempt to keep all of their information factual and credible as well. Even though at times, some postings are overlooked.