No bon appetit as California foie gras ban nears
Source: Agencies |
June 30, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
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TOMORROW marks a turning point in the culinary calendar of California in the United States when a ban enacted nearly eight years ago on foie gras - the gourmet food made from the fattened livers of force-fed ducks and geese - takes effect.
In advance of the July 1 date, some businesses have moved out of the state and others have closed. Many chefs and restaurants have held foie gras dinners in a final toast to the delicacy they love, while animal rights activists have cheered and jeered. And in France, the major producer and consumer of the delicacy, politicians and chefs have cried foul.
"I'm sad. I'm disappointed. I'm going to get as much in as I can while we can," said Christina Kurtz, who attended a six-course foie gras dinner recently in Santa Monica.
Foie gras - "fatty liver" in French - is produced by force-feeding corn - a process known as gavage - to ducks and geese with a tube-like device in order to enlarge their livers. When fattened, the birds are slaughtered and the organs are harvested to make gourmet dishes.
The process dates back centuries, but in late 2004, then-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning the sale of foie gras. The law included a grace period to allow chefs and farmers time to find alternative production.
Seven-and-one-half years and no new methods later, any restaurant serving the gourmet food will be fined up to US$1,000. Some farmers and foodmakers don't see gavage as cruel, and point out that the animals' physiology can handle the process. And the French, as a country, are upset.
"It's a question of cultural shock," said Marie-Pierre Pe, general delegate of the Paris-based Interprofessional Committee of Foie Gras. "Could you imagine France banning ketchup or hamburgers?"
Pe said the economic effect was negligible, given already low exports to the US due to customs barriers and veterinary rules. France's foreign ministry weighed-in during an online press briefing on Thursday, saying the country "can only regret California's decision."
In advance of the July 1 date, some businesses have moved out of the state and others have closed. Many chefs and restaurants have held foie gras dinners in a final toast to the delicacy they love, while animal rights activists have cheered and jeered. And in France, the major producer and consumer of the delicacy, politicians and chefs have cried foul.
"I'm sad. I'm disappointed. I'm going to get as much in as I can while we can," said Christina Kurtz, who attended a six-course foie gras dinner recently in Santa Monica.
Foie gras - "fatty liver" in French - is produced by force-feeding corn - a process known as gavage - to ducks and geese with a tube-like device in order to enlarge their livers. When fattened, the birds are slaughtered and the organs are harvested to make gourmet dishes.
The process dates back centuries, but in late 2004, then-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning the sale of foie gras. The law included a grace period to allow chefs and farmers time to find alternative production.
Seven-and-one-half years and no new methods later, any restaurant serving the gourmet food will be fined up to US$1,000. Some farmers and foodmakers don't see gavage as cruel, and point out that the animals' physiology can handle the process. And the French, as a country, are upset.
"It's a question of cultural shock," said Marie-Pierre Pe, general delegate of the Paris-based Interprofessional Committee of Foie Gras. "Could you imagine France banning ketchup or hamburgers?"
Pe said the economic effect was negligible, given already low exports to the US due to customs barriers and veterinary rules. France's foreign ministry weighed-in during an online press briefing on Thursday, saying the country "can only regret California's decision."
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