Yesterday, animal advocates, PETA, ducks, and geese shouted a collective WTF after the California ban on foie gras was overturned by a federal judge after a two-year run. For those not familiar with the fatty delicacy, ducks and geese are force fed with metal pipes until their once-normal livers enlarge to ten times their size. Let me repeat that. Ten times its size. Then, chefs make fancy dishes with said liver.
The California culinary world freaked out over the decision. In Los Angeles alone, José Andrés is offering free foie gras cotton candy today at The Bazaar, an all-foie gras menu debuts at Terrine on Monday, and in Santa Monica, chef Josiah Citrin put foie gras on his tasting menu the very night the ban was lifted. Sean Chaney, owner of Hot’s Kitchen in Hermosa Beach, actually had a fellow chef overnight him foie gras so he could start using it right away. San Francisco chefs seem equally excited.
As a card-carrying ethical vegan who formerly worked at a vegan magazine in San Francisco, I admit I’m biased. I love cows, ducks, geese, and chickens as much as I love my dog. If someone told me that they were going to force feed my yellow Labrador until his liver exploded, I’d get all John Wick, morph into Keanu Reeves, and hunt down those SOBs. (Granted, my yellow Lab would LOVE if you overfed him.)
For a human equivalent, imagine you had the best Thanksgiving dinner of your life. Like trading out your jeans for stretchy pants so you can eat more (you know what I’m talking about). Then, a guy you don’t know holds a gun to your head and demands that you eat an entire buffet of all-you-can-eat-sushi. Unless you’re a food-eating champion who downs Nathan’s hot dogs for a living, this probably sounds like a vomit-filled nightmare.
That’s how a goose or a duck feels.
The professional chefs will tell you that foie gras is an“important ingredient.” That it has a place in French cuisine. They need it, damn it!
To them, I say, try getting force fed three times a day until your liver is the size of a basketball. Your new giant liver will push against your lungs so you struggle to breathe. You might even die. That’s literally what ducks and geese go through, and it’s damn disgusting. If you think I’m making this shit up, I dare you to watch this video of soon-to-be foie gras ducks.
Foie gras is considered so cruel that the UK, Germany, Italy, and Israel have banned the fatty liver.
What the hell, California! Europeans already look down at us. Let’s reinstate the ban so the rest of the world doesn’t think we’re inhumane jerks.
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