Does Hepatic Lipidosis Sound Yummy to You?

Foie gras is prepared from their grossly enlarged, diseased livers (a condition called hepatic lipodisis). In order to accomplish this cruel feat, long metal pipes are literally shoved down the birds' throats, and as much as seven pounds of food per day are pumped into their stomachs. This is the equivalent of a human being force-fed almost 30 pounds of pasta daily. Soon they become so fat and ill they can't walk around. They also suffer from ruptured stomachs, pneumonia, foot infections and broken bones, blood toxicity, kidney, nerve and spleen damage, bruised and broken bills, and throat tumors. Their compromised health state causes them to stop preening, and they are denied access to sufficient water to bathe and swim. They often undergo the painful procedure of debilling to prevent them from attacking their fellow birds in frustration. Deaths from the above problems or from suffocation due to the forced tube feedings are so common that some foie gras farm workers are awarded monthly bonuses based on how many stomachs they've managed not to burst!

Only male birds are used for foie gras because they can produce larger livers. Undesirable female hatchlings are routinely killed by drowning, beating, or crushing, or they are just left to die slowly in the trash. After about four weeks of force-feeding, after the liver reaches approximately 1-1/2 pounds (normal is 3 ounces), the animals are slaughtered.

Foie gras birds are denied veterinary care because the whole point of foie gras is that it must be made from animals with diseased livers. Currently, a lawsuit filed in New York by several human societies argues that because foie gras birds are overfed, it makes them ill and therefore legally unfit for human consumption.

Seventeen European countries have passed laws that ban foie gras, either directly or through already existing animal welfare laws, including the UK, Switzerland, and Poland. The European Union is presently considering a ban also. In this country, dozens of businesses, including, to his credit, Wolfgang Puck's catering outlets and restaurants, will no longer serve or sell foie gras. Airlines such as American, Air Canada, United, Delta, KLM, and SAS do not include foie gras on their menus. Chicago has recently banned foie gras and California will prohibit its production and sale by 2012. Other bans are being considered in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Philadelphia. Even Pope Benedict XVI has come out against foie gras.

There are three foie gras farms in the United States, one in California and two in upstate New York. The largest, Hudson Valley Foie Gras, kills 350,000 ducks a year. Meanwhile, back in France, the birthplace of foie gras and the country where most of it is still consumed (Hungary is the world's largest producer), a protective law was passed in 2005 declaring foie gras part of France's cultural heritage.

Avoiding foie gras is a no-brainer. But if you crave the taste, try the vegetarian variety, also known as faux gras. It's readily available in many supermarkets and health food stores (Bonavita is one excellent brand).