Liberation BC’s newly liberated, man-size duck needs a name!
He – well, I’m assuming he’s a he, due to the aforementioned manly stature – is Canadian and a former prisoner of a foie gras operation, so perhaps that will give you some ideas.
Me? I positively suck at this sort of thing. My first, last and only decent suggestion was “Heart-Shaped Box” for the name of a vegan bakery. I forget who ran that contest. (PETA, probably.)
In my second round of guest posts at change.org, I look at the recent pig culls in Egypt, and explain how the mass killings may have less to do with concerns over the swine flu than with religious discrimination directed at the country’s Coptic Christians – as well as “their” pigs.
Bonobobabe and Eccentric Vegan both respond to a recent piece that appeared in the community section of Feministing. Not surprisingly, the author asserted that animal rights and feminism are unrelated movements, such that the animal rights movement has nothing to contribute to feminism and vice versa. Thus, it’s perfectly acceptable for good liberal progressive feminists to eat meat, wear fur and shit on animal advocates when they complain. I’m taking liberties, of course, but you get the idea.
Bonobobabe’s reply, in particular, is a must-read. I skimmed it over several times, trying to boil it down to an excerpt or two to illustrate her argument, but it’s all awesome. This about sums it up, though:
So, while I think it’s fine for a woman who calls herself a feminist to put her time and energy towards women-centered things, I also feel that if a feminist is supposed to be sensitive to class and race issues, that she should also be sensitive to speciesist issues. It’s not OK to say that you are better than an animal. Besides, hierarchies are the invention of men. Being a speciesist, even if one is a feminist, is playing by men’s rules. You’re better than that.
Urgent: Letters and Calls Needed re: Foie Gras Week
Today the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article on an upcoming “Foie Gras Week” that some area restaurants will be participating in. The event is a promotional gimmick by Hudson Valley Foie Gras farm to try to drum up interest in their cruel product by basically giving it away for free. We are asking all HLP members to please take two quick actions to respond on this issue and to speak out for the ducks and geese being painfully force-fed on foie gras farms.
First: Send a Letter to the Editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer about the cruelty of foie gras and why you will not eat at any restaurant that serves it. Letters should be sent to: Inquirer.Letters [at] phillynews.com .
Second: Contact Councilman Jack Kelly’s office to encourage him to move forward with the bill to ban the sale of foie gras. The bill was re-introduced 9 months ago but Kelly has not yet brought it up for a vote. Councilman Kelly’s office numbers are: (215) 686-3452 and (215) 686-3453.
Ugh, a whole week dedicated to celebrating foie gras?
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From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Oct 10, 2007 11:49 AM
Subject: Writing Alert: Cooking Up a Battle over Foie Gras
Congratulations to volunteer writer Marge Hackett whose letter to the Ojai Valley News on foie gras was published.
Time magazine ran an article about the controversy over foie gras. Please write a letter to the editor about the suffering ducks and geese endure to produce foie gras. Send letters at letters [at] time.com.
At Philadelphia’s Vintage restaurant last week the special was two delicately pan-seared pieces of foie gras perched atop toasted brioche with a berry coulis, garnished with fresh raspberries and a side of rebellion.
The days of foie gras as a simple exercise in gastronomic luxury are over. Foie gras — French for the fatted liver of a duck or goose — has come under increasing fire in the U.S., where it is a $17 million business. Chicago has banned the sale of it and California law will make it illegal to sell or raise foie gras by 2012. The fiercest battleground right now is in Philadelphia, where City Councilman Jack Kelly has proposed a ban and animal rights group Hugs for Puppies has been protesting the homes and businesses of chefs who serve the delicacy. But a group of Philly restaurateurs are fighting back, under the banner Philadelphia Chefs for Choice, marking the first time anywhere that chefs have organized to protest the foie gras protesters. During the first week of October, nearly 20 restaurants served foie gras specials on their lunch and dinner menus for just $5. The chef group has stated: “In the city of Philadelphia, the birthplace of American liberty, we want to keep the right to serve foie gras.”
The debate is centered around the practice of gavage, in which corn is force-fed to farm-raised ducks through a funnel down their throats. Some argue that gavage is inhumane, while others counter that the physiology of a duck is not the same as a human. “It seems terrible if you don’t know that a duck’s esophagus is lined with a very thick cuticle, if you don’t realize that baby ducks are fed by their mother pushing her beak down the baby’s throat,” says Ariane Daguin, owner of D’Artagnan, the largest foie gras purveyor in the U.S. Recent studies by Dr. Daniel Gu men a leading expert on the physiological effects of gavage, have shown that ducks with young in the wild were under more stress than the ducks being fed through gavage. And both The American Veterinary Medical Association’s House of Delegates and the American Association of Avian Pathologists have concluded that foie is not a product of animal cruelty.
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From: Farm Sanctuary – info [at] farmsanctuary.org
Date: Oct 1, 2007 7:49 AM
Subject: Ask Canadian Government to Investigate Canada’s Foie Gras Industry
Ask Canadian Government to Investigate Canada’s Foie Gras Industry
Farm Sanctuary, in cooperation with Canadian group Global Action Network (GAN), has released Round 2 of its investigation into the Canadian foie gras industry. The undercover footage shot at Aux Champs D’Elise and Palmex, the second and third-largest foie gras producers in Canada respectively, further confirms the immense cruelty inherent in the production of foie gras.
Video and photographic evidence from Palmex and Champs D’Elise show ducks suffering the gruesome after-effects of force feeding: ducks gasping for breath, choking blood and regurgitated food, many barely able to hold up their heads. Others are shown dead in their cages, having succumbed to the debilitating effects of being force fed up to a third of their own body weight daily.
In addition to dead and dying ducks, undercover footage shot over a 5-day period by an investigator working at Aux Champs D’Elise depicts shocking acts of cruelty: employees bashing the heads of ducks against the concrete floor, hurling them through the air by their necks and even sawing off an animal’s head, all while the ducks are fully conscious.
See for yourself. Watch Farm Sanctuary’s video, “Culinary Cruelty: Undercover in Canada” and distribute this alert widely:
[Kelly’s note: Farm Sanctuary’s You Tube profile is available at http://www.youtube.com/user/farmsanctuary1 – you’ll find additional videos from Farm Sanctuary on that page.]
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From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Aug 23, 2007 4:02 PM
Subject: Writing Alert: Finding foie gras
The Chicago Tribune ran an article about the raging controversy over foie gras in Chicago. Please write a letter to the editor about the suffering ducks and geese endure to produce foie gras in support of their efforts. Send letters via an online feedback form.
One year after Chicago ban, controversial delicacy isn’t exactly a rarity
By Phil Vettel | Tribune restaurant critic
August 22, 2007
Michael Lachowicz, a chef with a restaurant on the North Shore, dined in Chicago Monday night, and what he remembered most about his main course was the garnish.
“There was a lovely slab of foie gras with my squab,” said the chef at Michael, in north suburban Winnetka. “It wasn’t listed on the menu.”
Small wonder it wasn’t on the menu, or that Lachowicz declined to name the restaurant. Since Aug. 22 of last year, it has been illegal to sell foie gras, a delicacy made from the liver of a force-fed duck or goose, within Chicago’s city limits.
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From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Aug 9, 2007 2:07 PM
Subject: Writing Alert: Animal activists decry delicacy
The Deseret News ran an article about foie gras and local activists’ efforts to get restaurants to remove the cruel “delicacy” from their menus. Please write a letter to the editor about the suffering ducks and geese endure to produce foie gras. Send letters to letters [at] desnews.com.
Animal activists decry delicacy
By Elaine Jarvik
Deseret Morning News
Foie gras is French for fatty liver – and, despite that rather unappealing description, it’s been a gourmet delicacy for centuries. But now animals rights activists like Colleen Hatfield of Taylorsville are campaigning to get the item off restaurant menus, arguing that it is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese through a pipe shoved down their throats.
A month ago, Hatfield, who is a member of the Chicago-based group SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness), sent letters to eight northern Utah restaurants she says serve foie gras, urging them to stop. Next weekend, she and other SHARK members plan to begin protesting at those restaurants that have not agreed to the request.
The letter, which called foie gras “this food of misery,” was accompanied by a DVD
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From: Farm Sanctuary – info [at] farmsanctuary.org
Date: Jul 17, 2007 9:08 AM
Subject: Tell Amazon to Stop Foie Gras Cruelty
Tell Amazon to Stop Foie Gras Cruelty
Farm Sanctuary has just released new and shocking undercover footage taken at Elevages Perigord, Canada’s largest foie gras production facility. The footage, which can be viewed online at the Farm Sanctuary website (http://www.farmsanctuary.org/media/pr_fg_amazon.htm), reveals the abuses inherent in every stage of foie gras production, from the hatchery to force feeding to the slaughterhouse. Canada is responsible for a large percentage of the foie gras imported into the U.S. annually.
A product of a partnership between Global Action Network and Farm Sanctuary, this groundbreaking investigative work is integral to Farm Sanctuary’s efforts to permanently eradicate the barbaric practices associated with foie gras production. The footage reveals the atrocities committed against hundreds of thousands of innocent animals for the sake of a high-end paté. Prosecution against the foie gras plant is pending.
You can help put an end to foie gras cruelty by cutting the supply chain!
In the United States, Amazon.com hawks foie gras produced at Elevages Perigord. Please put the power of your purse to work to stop this intolerable cruelty, and tell Amazon that they won’t earn back your business until they stop selling foie gras.
Contact Amazon at:
206-266-1000 (press 1 for customer service, 5 for corporate receptionist and ask for customer service.) If you have an account with Amazon.com, go to http://www.amazon.com/help, log in and click on customer service to send an email registering your concerns.
You can also write Jeffrey Bezos Amazon’s CEO directly: Jeffrey Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com Inc. 1200 12th Ave South, STE 1200, Seattle, WA 98144-2734
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From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 11, 2007 10:15 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Video of foie gras horrors in Canada media — Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Major media across Canada today, Wednesday July 11, reports on gruesome undercover video taken at a Quebec foie gras farm.
At the website for Canada’s largest privately-owned television network, CTV, you can read the story and also watch the reports, which include some of the footage.
On the right side of the page, click on the links under “video” to watch the reports.
We hear, “All the females end up in the garbage where they just suffocate to death. It’s because they produce smaller livers,” as we see awful shots of ducklings struggling and smothering in garbage bins.
Councilman Jack Kelly has introduced an anti foie gras bill in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky’s Thursday June 7 column is headed, “It’s time to ban foie gras, the trifecta of misery.” (Pg. 08)
Bykofsky tells us that while “a piddling 2 percent” of the population eat foie gras at least once a year, “Each year in the U.S., almost a half-million ducks are caged, tortured and slaughtered for their livers, deliberately diseased by the cruel hand of man.”
He writes:
“To create ‘fatty liver,’ tubes are jammed down the throats of helpless male ducks two or three times a day to force-feed them up to a total of four pounds of grain mush. The forced feedings go on for 12-15 days.”
We read:
“Sometimes necks are pierced, sometimes wings are broken. The grotesquely enlarged livers can make it hard for ducks to even walk, but cruelty is overlooked to satisfy the palates of those who’ll pay $30-45 a pound at retail for foie gras – the trifecta of misery: unnecessary, unhealthy, unkind.”
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From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Jun 7, 2007 11:05 AM
Subject: Writing Alert: It’s time to ban foie gras, the trifecta of misery
The Philly Daily News ran an opinion piece about foie gras in support of a ban on the cruel “delicacy.” Please write a letter to the editor about the suffering ducks and geese endure to produce foie gras in support of the legislation. Send letters to views [at] phillynews.com.
For many, including Councilman Jack Kelly, it is animal torture, and that’s why he introduced a bill to ban it.
Chances are, you never ate foie gras.
Chances are, if you knew what it is and how it is made, you never would.
A Zogby International poll of likely Pennsylvania voters said 61 percent never eat foie gras.
A piddling 2 percent eat it at least once a year. One-third said they’ve never even heard of it.
Each year in the U.S., almost a half-million ducks are caged, tortured and slaughtered for their livers, deliberately diseased by the cruel hand of man.
To create “fatty liver,” tubes are jammed down the throats of helpless male ducks two or three times a day to force-feed them up to a total of four pounds of grain mush. The forced feedings go on for 12-15 days.
“Tom Brock produces foie gras at a Southern California farm, but even he used to feel squeamish when he had to force-feed the geese with an 8- to 10-inch steel tube to fatten their livers.
”’I used the traditional tube, and force-fed the traditional way,’ Mr. Brock said, ‘and it was the single most unpleasant experience of my life.’
“So he bought a feeding machine that a Hungarian goose farmer had recently invented in his garage workshop. It has a soft rubber tube that Mr. Brock says has been much gentler on his animals.
“It may make the birds, and Mr. Brock, feel better. But yet to be seen is whether it will please the animal rights activists who helped California enact a law that will ban foie gras starting in 2012, got Chicago to outlaw the sale of foie gras last year and are threatening similar action in other parts of the country.
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From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Mar 4, 2007 9:42 PM
Subject: Writing Alert: Foie Fight
The Chicago Reader ran an article about the raging controversy over foie gras in Chicago. Please write a letter to the editor about the suffering ducks and geese endure to produce foie gras in support of their efforts. Send letters to letters [at] chicagoreader.com.
Both parties in an animal-rights-related lawsuit live in California, but it’s being decided here, in foie-gras central.
AS THE PUBLIC face of the Animal Protection & Rescue League and a 12-year vegan, attorney Bryan Pease has campaigned in California in favor of nonlethal pest control, protection of seal habitat, a ban on veal, and a ban on foie gras. In January in Chicago he joined the anti-foie gras protests at Bin 36 and Cyrano’s Bistrot, trailed by a French TV crew doing a piece on Chicago’s duck-liver ordinance.
But Pease didn’t come all the way to Chicago just to chant slogans and wave signs in the cold. He’d filed a libel suit against Guillermo Gonzalez, owner of Sonoma Foie Gras, a producer near Stockton, California, and he was here to make an appearance before a Cook County Circuit Court judge.
In late 2003 Pease and two APRL comrades made their way into a Sonoma Foie Gras facility and filmed ducks being force-fed and a rat nosing around the rear ends of a pair of ducks, allegedly nibbling on them (it’s a little hard to tell). The three absconded with the birds and took them to a vet, who determined two had “large flesh wounds . . . evident on the tails” and were in poor health. He recommended one be euthanized.
The “Ommm” refers to the Jivamukti Yoga studio at which meetings organizing the foie gras resistance are being held.
The article tells us that the resistance, “emboldened by legislative victories in Chicago and California” has stepped up its activity and “united locally under one No Foie Gras umbrella, hiring former Spitzer fund-raiser Lawrence Kopp and a full-time staffer to build a movement.”
We learn that Russell Simmons will hold an April 7 anti-foie fund-raiser at Jivamukti.
And we learn that the Fairway market hung a banner in December boasting, “Fairway is Foie Gras Central.”
The article says nothing about the egregious cruelty inherent in foie gras production, but our letters to the editor can discuss that. A good source of information is http://www.nofoiegras.org
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From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Jan 29, 2007 11:44 AM
Subject: Writing Alert: Activists slam restaurant serving foie gras
The Chicago Tribune ran a story about a protest held this weekend in Chicago over city officials’ failure to enforce a ban on foie gras, a delicacy made from cruelly force-feeding ducks and geese. Please write a letter to the editor on the inherent cruelty of foie gras. Send letters to: ctc-TribLetter [at] Tribune.com.
Wayne Hsiung stood in the cold Sunday outside Bin 36, handing out pamphlets to the few passersby about the way geese and ducks are force-fed to make foie gras.
Holding banners that showed the process in graphic detail, Hsiung was among about a dozen animal-rights activists protesting the restaurant’s continued serving of the fattened goose- or duck-liver delicacy, which the Chicago City Council banned last year.
“I think that torturing a defenseless animal is wrong,” said Hsiung of Chicago.
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From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Nov 16, 2006 4:57 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Foie gras lawsuit on New York Sun front page — 11/16/06
“Animal rights activists have asked a state judge to stop foie gras production in New York, saying the ducks used are overfed to such an extent that they are diseased and unfit for sale under state law.
“The lawsuit, if it succeeds, could spell the end of foie gras production in America, a goal animal rights groups have long sought. The two Sullivan county farms that are defendants in the suit are the only foie gras producers in the country, other than a Northern Californian foie gras farm that may shut down under a California state law banning the industry.”
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From: In Defense of Animals – takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Sep 28, 2006 2:59 PM
Subject: Writing Alert: NJ legislator to propose ban on sale of foie gras; chefs nervous
Newsday ran an article about Assemblymember Michael Panter’s plan to introduce a bill that would ban the distribution and sale of foie gras throughout the state of New Jersey. Besides a great number of restaurants that serve the “delicacy,” New Jersey is home to a major supplier of foie gras, D’Artagnan Inc.
Please send letters to the editor to Letters [at] newsday.com.
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From: Farm Sanctuary – info [at] farmsanctuary.org
Date: Sep 28, 2006 11:57 AM
Subject: Celebrity Chef Promotes Foie Gras Cruelty
Celebrity Chef Promotes Foie Gras Cruelty!
Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse continues to promote foie gras (pronounced ‘fwah grah’), http://www.nofoiegras.org, in his recipes, in his restaurants and on his television shows. In fact, The Food Network’s “The Essence of Emeril” show, which aired on September 26, 2006, was devoted entirely to foie gras!
What You Can Do!
Please express your disappointment with Emeril continuing to promote foie gras.
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From: Farm Sanctuary – info [at] farmsanctuary.org
Date: Sep 12, 2006 1:23 PM
Subject: Support Needed to Prevent Repeal of Foie Gras Ban in Chicago
Support Needed to Prevent Repeal of Foie Gras Ban in Chicago!
A ban on the sale of foie gras (French for “fatty liver”) recently went into effect in the city of Chicago, and in response, a group of chefs has initiated a campaign to repeal it. Opponents of the humane ordinance assert that serving the cruelly produced appetizer should be their “choice.” Two Chicago Aldermen have introduced an ordinance seeking to repeal Chicago’s foie gras sale ban, denigrating the council’s compassionate stance and calling it “silly.”
It is critical that they hear from us. Chicago’s foie gras sale ban is humane and upholds societal values. It restricts cruel and unacceptable behavior. We cannot allow the abuse of children or animals to be a “choice.” Foie gras is a product of extreme cruelty, and selling it should not be a “choice.”
Please contact Aldermans Bernard L. Stone and Burton F. Natarus and tell them that compassion is not “silly,” and cruelty should not be a “choice.” Urge them to withdraw their unprincipled proposal.
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From: In Defense of Animals – alerts [at] idausa.org
Date: Sep 11, 2006 5:38 PM
Subject: Writing Alert: Last hurrah for foie gras? Group wants French dish off city menus
The Portland Press Herald ran an article about Maine activists’ efforts to get restaurants to remove cruelly-produced foie gras from their menus.
Please write a letter to the editor about the suffering ducks and geese endure to produce foie gras in support of their efforts. Send letters to letterstotheeditor [at] pressherald.com.
