Post Punk Kitchen Forum

California's ban on foie gras sales/production goes into effect on July 1! Imagine, Schwarzenegger actually managed to accomplish something worthy during his tenure! Depending on my mood, I might be willing to cede, for one day only on July 1, that Arnold is indeed numero uno.

Meanwhile, whiny tittybabies are trying to cram as much cruelty into their faces as possible before their worlds come crashing down around them. Special foie-gras intensive dinners have been sprouting up all over the city.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sectio ... id=8710587

I learned about through my internship working at a fancy restaurant. they were all "new yorkers don't care about this like people in california. don't worry! we can all still eat foie gras!" and "it's not a sustainability issue, it's just an animal cruelty issue so no big deal!"

anyway, this is great. maybe i should move home.

Maygles reads (or used to read) a knitting blog where the author talked about the "Foie-ther's Day" feast she attended with like 7 courses of foie gras. Yay, fetishizing cruelty!

But yeah, I'm psyched that California at least will be free of this shiitake. Though I wonder if there will be douchebags hosting underground foie gras dinners here now.

I read a blog on HuffPost saying that some chefs might try not selling foie gras, but offering a complimentary foie gras something with the purchase of something else. I suck at law, but if they use that as a loop hole that would be sad. Either way, I'm thrilled about it. I believe California has one of 2 foie gras farms in the country so the ban is effectively cutting foie gras production in half.

The term you're looking for is freedom fighters.

freoidom foieders?

(Although in my defunct blog, I referred to them as the gavageoisie.)

Ugh, all the news channels here in Southern Cali are talking about it: get your foie gras while you can!

so gross. I try not to watch, but saw one the other day where they were talking about how 'natural' it was because it 'mimics the way gooses feed thier young'

I hope somone feeds YOU like that someday.

No, makes sense. I mean, stabbing someone in the face is essentially the same thing as spoonfeeding a baby.

This is excellent news! I just hate hearing about all of the sneaky ways they're going to try to sell it now.

I'd wait a year and see what is happening then. I remember when the smoking ban went down in NYC in bars and all the bar owners freaked and thought they would go out of business. Nothing happened and life went on as usual, of course. Hopefully this might be the same.

I think I ought to be glad about this but I can't help but think that it seems like pissing on the little guys?

Obviously foie gras is... problematic but at the same time, factory-farmed chickens suffer cruelty and abuse on a much wider scale, and I think the majority people would consider it inconceivable to outlaw factory farming. It's easier to take out a few smaller farms than to tackle mass agribusiness - but it feels just like a Band-Aid, not a real solution.

Probably still a step in the right direction, though...

in my mind, baby steps. People aren't going to recognize the cruelty in larger industries until they have recognized the (arguably) more blatant cruelty in other industries - ala foie gras, veal, live markets etc.

I totally agree with you. If an unconcerned consumer can't eat foir gras they'll probably just eat something just as cruel if not more so. But, at the same time this is raising awareness about animals in the food industry. People will inevitably have to consider how they feel not only about foie gras but other animal products.

the pathetic people boo-hooing the loss of their precious foie gras is sort of making me ill

and their arguements sort of make me sick to, I am working at maximum capacity to keep myself from unleashing at them in a way I try to avoid ever being when it comes to shiitake like this

its a forking forced liver disease...how forking dim doesn one have to be to not see whats wrong with that?

The thing you're missing is that they love liver disease. Who are you to deny them what they love? I respect their desires enough to force-feed them until they are engorged and sickened, and then I gently kill them and scoop out their livers. When you think about it, I'm the real vegan here.

Give us a spoonful please Govna'??

I have sort of mixed feelings- I'm starting to feel more and more that banning stuff is bad for society, because it sets up this kind of situation where it's like you're forcing someone else what to do or telling them what is right. In an ideal world people would realize that foie gras is cruel and demand for it will drop, which is what I hope will happen with all animal products.

I am happy for the ducks and gooses, of course.

and this, yeah- sorry didn't read your post thoroughly but I feel like this is related to my point.

I have a hard time understanding people who eat and produce foie gras as the little guys.

I don't see it any different than dog fighting.

I have talked with some real morons in my life who say "Pit Bulls are happy when they are fighting" and it makes me think of the "Ducks like the feed tube, they come over willingly!" rhetoric I hear from the foie gras people.

Unfortunately I think people need to be dictated to in these ways for the greater good at times, because otherwise they just slough through existence without thought to many things around them (thats the problem to fix)

definitely

Bottom line, I guess I wish we could stop the production of foie gras by introducing laws protecting the ducks and gooses instead of framing it as a ban of the product itself. that is the part that seems problematic to me.

I agree completely. I think it's shitty that we have to mandate ethical behavior, because ethics shouldn't (and really cannot) be legally enforced, just the actions spurred by ethics. But society still needs laws to outline what is ethically acceptable, and to outline how to appropriately punish those who breach what we as a majority deem to be societal ethics. I'm sure there are far more people who believe murder is unethical and never would consider such an action than believe foie gras is unethical, but enough people still commit murder that the law against it is necessary.



this.

Cross-posted from the 'best thing about my day' thread!

Some guy on TV today asked, "What's next? Caviar?"

Sure, crasshole. Let's do that.