Sustainable Humane Foie Gras

Foie gras is French for “fatty liver,” and in order to produce this so-called delicacy, ducks are force fed abnormally large quantities of food, causing their livers to become diseased and swell up to ten times the normal size. (Caro 2009) People will tell you they love it, hate it or have never tasted it. In France it's ubiquitous. In the United States there is controversy regarding the act of overfeeding ducks to enlarge their livers constitutes cruelty to animals, the unhealthy living conditions and the inhumane farming practices.

            The question is whether the act of overfeeding ducks to enlarge their livers constitutes cruelty to animals. The argument from the anti-foie gras camp is that the ducks are force-fed extreme amounts of food from a tube stuck down their throats, which causes their livers to grow to about a third of their total body weight, which in turn incapacitates the animals. Defenders of foie (liver) gras (fat), say that the ducks do not have a gag reflex and are inherently prone to overeating. (Bonisteel 2009) So, the feeding tube does not cause discomfort.  This may be true, however these individual caged ducks are forced-feed three to five times a day for a two week period which causes the ducks to become deathly ill, they struggle to walk and breathe, and vomit up undigested food. (The Humane Society) To me this is a clear example of cruelty and torture to an animal that is farmed for the singular purpose of becoming a food product.

            Investigations (PETA) reveal the unhealthy living conditions that many ducks endure. Many develop foot infections, kidney necrosis, spleen damage, bruised and broken bills, and tumor-like lumps in their throats. Investigations at Hudson Valley Foie Gras revealed that ducks were crammed into filthy, feces-ridden sheds and that others were isolated in wire cages that were so small that they could barely move. (PETA). Investigators also observed barrels full of dead ducks who had choked to death or whose organs had ruptured during the traumatic force-feeding process. The investigators (PETA) rescued 15 ducks, including two who were being eaten alive by rats because they could not move.

  

There is an alternative to the production method of foie gras and a farmer from Spain named Eduardo Sousa is on the forefront of the foie gras wars. Eduardo raises geese on an idyllic farm in Spain. He provides them with a plentiful spread of regional foods, including figs, nuts and herbs, knowing that the geese will instinctively gorge on food in preparation for the coming winter and long migration south. (Abend 2009) Sousa’s geese each year roam freely, eating their fill of acorns and olives, on a farm that replicates the wild as closely as possible.  Chef Dan Barber, owner of Blue Hill Restaurant in New York, is working to recreate Sousa’s sustainable model for producing truly free-range foie gras from non-force-fed geese here in the United States. This is a step to the end of farm factories and the education of the consumer to really understand how the food we buy is produced.

In today’s world we’re really disassociated from who’s growing our food, where it’s coming from and how it’s getting to us. I believe with more education and attention to how farm animals are treated and feed before their eventual slaughter will help to give a better understanding of why this is so important to keep a happy and healthy balance with nature.