Ban on foie gras in California looms
8th June 2012
The first American state to prohibit the controversial delicacy is awash with foie gras events and raging debates
Tempers are flaring in California as a ban on foie gras is fast approaching. California will be the first American state to outlaw the controversial French delicacy and protesters from both camps are out in force as the 1 July cut-off date looms.
The state has seen a foie gras binge in recent months and prices have risen two-fold in shops. Restaurants are experiencing a roaring trade with diners wanting to get as much as they can before the ban. Foie gras events are taking place all over the state and consumers are stock piling the product, which is selling for over $120 (£77) a kilogram.
The debate rages between gourmands and chefs who champion the delicacy as a traditional and delicious food and welfare activists who decry the cruelty of force feeding the birds. The decision to prohibit sales was taken in 2004 under California's then governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, but a period of eight year grace was awarded.
As the date draws nearer, the state's only foie gras producer prepares to shut its doors despite its booming business, as it has failed to find a 'cruelty-free' method of fattening the liver in the given eight year period. Owner Guillermo Gonzalez said: “Ultimately, chefs' and consumers' freedom of choice is being taken away. Who knows what food product is next?”
On the other side of the debate, campaigners deplore the feeding process known as gavage, whereby a tube is forced down the bird's oesophagus several times a day to pump feed directly into the stomach causing the liver to swell to ten times its normal size.
“High-end foodies and chefs stuffing down their throats excessive amounts of fatty liver from force-fed ducks in the run-up to the ban paint a pretty ironic picture,” said Jennifer Fearing of the Humane Society of the United States.
Gavage is already prohibited in about a dozen countries, including Britain. However, the UK still allows the sale of imported foie gras.
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