Fight For Your Right To Foie Gras
It warmed our hearts when we opened today's Inquirer and found out that restaurants are standing up for the right to serve foie gras. Nearly 20 establishments in the Philadelphia area have teamed up for a week of exposing the public to foie gras. "Freedom Foie for Five" will offer lunch and dinner portions of foie gras for $5 at restaurants including Vetri, London Grill, Rylei and Le Bec-Fin. Participants are receiving foie gras at cost through an agreement with the Artisan Farmers Alliance.
Foie gras has been under fire in Philadelphia lately. A bill is in the works at City Hall that would ban foie gras and animal rights protestors have been using thuggish tactics against restaurants serving the dish. There are claims that the production of foie gras, which involves force feeding ducks, constitutes animal cruelty.
For our part, we can't understand how with Philly's massive homeless problem and the miseries of "Murderdelphia", how activists can focus on... ducks. Do the right thing and buy one of the London Grill's t-shirts (pictured; available at bar).
A full list of partcipants is available at Food & Drinq.
A bargain for loves of foie gras [Inquirer]
Comments
What the people of HFP and other activist organizations have done in Philly is upsetting and dangerous. I hate to throw the word around so lightly, but some people are calling these “activists” “terrorists.” People being frightened into changing their menus, even fearing for the lives of their family members – well, it sounds a lot like terrorism to me.
Commerce in the city of Philadelphia is the real victim here. If we look beyond the face of this issue, we really just see business owners being viciously attacked for providing a delicious product the market demands.
As has happened in other cities and other times, these protests can rapidly deteriorate into riotous destruction. Business owners are scared – as well they should be. This has happened before and property destruction has become almost commonplace for many of these activists. That is not to mention the loss of business these owners may face.
And who knows why some of the original restaurants dropped the promotion? I’d bet they were bullied into doing so.
I am proud of Philly Chefs for Choice providing a voice for the rest of us. I don’t have time to stand around in anti-protest, but if I did, you’d better believe I’d be there. These retaurants are taking a stand. They are standing in support of choice, in support of creativity. They are standing in support of enterprise. We should applaoud them.
And we should eat some foie gras!
Posted by: Mercy | October 1, 2007 10:54 AM
Yes, it warms us all to think that small animals are being kept in cages with large metal tubes forced down their throats, sometimes ripping through their necks, and shooting abnormal amounts of food via compressed air into them until their livers are 10 times the size they normally should be. Gosh, if they didn't do that, we might all starve to death...
Really people, wake up. Foie gras is a DISEASE. (anyone ever had an inflamed liver?) Besides, only a fraction of the population eats it. The practices used by the foie gras industry are disgusting and completely unnecessary. If they want to figure out another way to produce it, fine, but don't get your panties in a twist about "terrorists" when the animal welfare groups are the ones trying to end cruelty and save lives. People who endorce these practices are the real terrorists, and the animals are the ones who live in fear- not some restauranteur who wants to please his upper crust clientel.
Posted by: Lucy | June 11, 2008 02:28 PM