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An entire foie gras (partly prepared for a terrine)
Not learning the lesson Chicago had to after it attempted to / failed at banning (delicious) foie gras, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi told SFGate about a new legislative idea dimly blinking in his noggin. Ahem:
"Why not get ahead of the curve in San Francisco and spotlight the fact that it's extremely cruel and inhumane to be offering foie gras?" he said, noting he was munching on veggie, yet delicious falafel as we talked on the phone.
No. This is a horrible idea, one that is past its prime. And, worse, it would set up a slippery slope of gastronomic laws most of us don't want. Yes, it would. Yes. It would.
When asked about this idea, Newsom's press secretary / stand-n Nathan Ballard brilliantly snapped back, "Clearly Supervisor Mirkarimi has crafted a solution to what he thinks is one of the most challenging issues facing our city. This landmark legislation will soon seek its place in the history books."
When even Ballard is like, "Dude, really?," you know you've made a bit of a brain fart. Ouch.
That said, here is a list of places in San Francisco where you can enjoy rich, savory, flavorful foie gras. Enjoy.
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Eww! You linked to YELP, Brock?
I feel dirty. And more stupid.
ross is hot
foie gras is not
Supervisor Mirkarimi is an idiot. Please tell me he has more important things to do...'cause I think so every time I walk through his district. Ross, pull your thumb out of your ass and do something meaningful.
With the exceptions of dead girls or live boys (see Mayor of Portland), controversy is usuall a good way for a Mayoral wannabe to become better known ... sadly, folks tend to vote for the name they recognize the most if they're otherwise clueless about the field of candidates. Well played, Russ! ;)
Foie Gras is indeed disgusting and inhumane, but like you pointed out if we outlawed Foie Gras it would nessessarily create a slippery slope and might lead to more laws that protect Animal Rights...what a horrible thing indeed. God knows that our place is to abuse animals as much as we can.
God knows that our place is to abuse animals as
much as we can.
Only the succulent, juicy ones. Let's not get out of control.
My Tofu can beat your Foie Gras any day of the week.
If by "beat", you mean "not hold a candle to", then yes, I agree. If we weren't meant to eat foie gras then god wouldn't have made their livers so damn tasty.
Ahh, no. You're just accustomed to eating meat. If you were used to Tofu, as I am, you would be able to appreciate how delicious it is. I'm sure if I ate Foie Gras that I'd be utterly disgusted.
It all starts with foie gras, but if it ever comes to bacon. I will riot.
First they came for foie gras...
and make no mistake, they will come for the bacon.
So, if foie gras is banned, can we still buy "foie" that is not "gras?"
It's hard to find fresh goose or duck liver. I usually resort to using chicken or pork. Home pate-making is perfectly feasible and not that hard. The hard part is resisting making such a large quantity that, instead of taunting the Pate Gestapo to kick down your door and pry your ultra-fatty food from your cold dead fingers, you don't kill yourself. (Pate does not freeze well...)
It's hard to find fresh goose or duck liver. I usually resort to using chicken or pork. Home pate-making is perfectly feasible and not that hard. The hard part (since pate does not freeze well) is resisting making such a large quantity that, while taunting the Pate Gestapo to kick down your door and pry your ultra-fatty food from your cold dead fingers, you don't end up killing yourself.
Apparently Russ has nothing better to do. I suppose the BOS won't be happy until they've taken all of the fun out of this city and turned everyone into a crotchety, militant vegan.
NEWS FLASH: foie gras is so cruel that its production and sale is already banned in California, effective 2012. See Cal. Health & Safety Code section 25890. At least 15 other countries have banned foie gras production. Many restaurants and chefs, such as Wolfgang Puck, have removed this product of animal torture without waiting for the ban to go into effect in three years. Puck also removed products from cruel confinement cages that were banned by California voters overwhelmingly last November with Prop 2. If you don't care about animal cruelty, you are the weirdo, not those who do. Restaurants that remove this cruel dish deserve to be commended, and the resolution sponsored by Sup. Mirkarimi was unanimously recommended by the SF Animal Control & Welfare Commission. West Hollywood and San Diego have passed similar resolutions. More on the cruelty of foie gras at www.aprl.org/foiegras.html and www.banfoiegras.org. It is always made by force feeding ducks or geese massive quantities of food to the point where they are sick and dying. The whole point is to enlarge their livers to 12 times their normal size, which is painful and debilitating to these animals.
For actual reportage of ducks being fattened up for the fois gras-related kill in one New York area farm, check out http://tinyurl.com/b7tjgq. It just isn't cruel all the time.
your link is busted. Here's the article: http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-02-18/news/is-foie-gras-torture
I don't think you're gonna convince mockduck to a different point of view (since they sound a little passionate) but that article does seem to provide an honest depiction of how it's made: it's not as scary as the extreme examples that PETA cites.
Apologies for the bad link and thanks for the good one. No, it's not that I have any hopes of convincing someone who employs cut-and-paste activism, but I felt like that VV article ought to be available in this discussion.
The idiots at CITY HALL , should spend their time on trying to figure out important things rather than wasting our money, their time on nonsense. They must not have anything to do down there!
NEWS FLASH: Sale and production of this product of cruel animal torture is already banned in California, effective 2012. See Cal. Health & Safety Code section 25980. The SF Animal Control & Welfare Commission last month unanimously recommended that the Board of Supervisors pass a resolution commending restaurants that have removed foie gras without waiting for the ban to go into effect, as West Hollywood and San Diego have done, so this resolution did not just come out of thin air. Many restaurants and chefs such as Wolfgang Puck already are refusing to dish up this cruelty, and Puck also removed products from intensive confinement cages banned by voters overwhelmingly last November with Proposition 2. Animal cruelty is an important issue that most people care about. Over 15 countries have banned foie gras production, including Israel which was previously the world's third largest producer. Foie gras is a product of extreme animal torture, the whole point being to enlarge the ducks' livers to 12 times their normal size through intensive force feeding of massive quantities of food through a large metal pipe. For more on the cruelty of foie gras, see www.APRL.org/foiegras.html and banfoiegras.org.
a.) it is geese/duck's natural biology to enlarge their livers. They have to stuff themselves in order to store up enough fat to migrate. Their livers enlarge in the wild due to their own eating habits. I suggest reading The Foie Gras Wars.
b.) moreover, this is such a ridiculous little bandwagon to hop on. It's easy, because banning foie gras affects relatively few people, since it's an expensive delicacy. It takes focus away from real, widespread cruelty, such as factory farming and battery cages. But few people want to ban chicken and steak, because that would cut into *everyone's* business. So let's all cry about a few geese raised for foie gras, while millions of chickens have their beaks chopped off, and spend their days shoved in cages the size of a sheet of copy paper. To hell with all the downer cows being picked up by a forklift and killed in hideous ways, let's instead throw a huge, publicity stunt fit about those damn foie gras farmers. Tyson, carry on.
Give me a break. This is the one instance where I agree wholeheartedly with Nathan Ballard. Mirkarimi doesn't have anything more important to focus on? Doesn't he have complex facial hair patterns to attend to?
You have no idea what you are talking about. The ducks used for foie gras production are Moulard, a cross between a Peking and a Muscovy. Neither bird migrates, and the Moulard cannot even fly. After they are force fed for a couple weeks, they can barely walk and have difficulty breathing. In birds that do migrate, their livers may expand one and a half to two times normal size, not the 12 times induced by force feeding for foie gras production. That's like saying that because humans can store fat in their bellies, it's okay to force feed you to the point that you are sick and can't stand up.
As for the book Foie Gras Wars, I'll get my information from scientists, not entertainment writers like Mark Caro who has a book to sell and doesn't want to offend anyone. See these reports from Dr. Ward Stone, senior wildlife pathologist for the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, after conducting necropsies on ducks used in foie gras production:
www.banfoiegras.org/Ward_stone.pdf
www.banfoiegras.org/drstone.pdf
Your claim that no one is caring about chickens, etc. is also false as evidenced by Prop 2's overwhelming passage last year.
Well, how goddamn tasty and good for you foie gras is, is what i am talking about.
And talk about a deal? With the economy the way it is, perfectly plumped duck liver is a downright steal at some of the best restaurants in sf. (For a really rich treat, get the steak tartare AND foie gras. Protein heaven was never like this before.)
Nail meet hammer - this is exactly it. The PETA-loons and other vegan vigilantes - who think "meat is murder" - know they stand no chance in getting America to drastically change how our meat is raised. So they hypocritically focus on a food product most people will never eat and which is viewed as luxury item for rich, latte- and pinot-swilling coastal elites, just so they can engage in self-congratulatory mutual masturbation over their "victory."
As for foie gras not being tasty - pish posh. Everyone I know who has ever tasted foie gras has had the same reaction the first time they tried it - "Oh my God - what the heck is that? How the heck can something be so tasty? Where has this been all my life? This is better than..BACON."
Foie Gras is heaven
This is a very interesting and thought provoking argument against a ban: http://www.incanto.biz/letters_-_shock_and_foie.html
Check this Village Voice article and the accompanying slideshow. It's really well done and shows that the problem is not inhumane treatment rather the whole of our food production and distribution systems. The failing is in regulation, inspection and enforcement--just like the banking industry.
When will we learn? Stop demonizing farmers.
Is Foie Gras Torture?
http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-02-18/news/is-foie-gras-torture/
By Sarah DiGregorio
Tuesday, February 17th 2009 at 3:32pm
Why take the happy go lucky food writer's word for it who loves foie gras? Why not see a guided tour of the same farm yourself with a hidden camera:
www.cok.net/feat/hudsonvalley.php
It's simple really. If duck could force feed humans and then eat our livers they would. They can't. Evolution wins. End of story.
That's one of the lamest animal-rights propaganda videos I've ever seen. They're just trying too hard yet still miserably failing.
But I can see how you might think it compelling, a relatively placid supposed undercover feeding video, showing no torture btw, manipulated to high contrast black and white or desaturated colors at appropriate moments to give it a macabre feel, with harsh discordant background music and text overlays talking about slaughter, really outshines the excellent journalism of that article.
FAIL
Ick - you people who are against foie gras disgust me, you are nothing but a pack of creepy Amercentric lifestyle bigots trying to destroy my rich Franco-Belgian cultural heritage. Go choke to death on your precious Big Mac!
"Vegetarians - They who will not eat that which cannot run away from them" - Flacco
I love the Mirk's balancing act here:
On the one hand, this legislation is important, but
On the other, we don't spend any time on something this trivial because it's not binding or important
I love it how legislators or activists who want foie gras banned never have bothered visiting a foie gras farm in 99% of the cases - all they usually know is the doctored propaganda PETA fed them.
Screw Mirkarimi and the other demagogues who would rather see foie gras banned, rather than work on real heath issues. How about instead they ban high fructose corn syrup in foods targeting kids? Or impose laws similar to some in Europe, requiring that restaurants display the place of origin for the meat and fish they serve? Or ban once and for all the use of hormone growth in beef?
Why not? Because it's easier to ban foie gras, which is 99% imported, and only consumed by a tiny percentage of the population. It's a cheap move to pander to the misinformed so-called animal rights activists who are too lazy to actually solve larger, more meaningful issues, and who really just want to use push-button symbols like foie gras to disgust the rest of the population and turn them into vegans.
Screw Mirkarimi. Screw self-righteous vegans. Just for this, I'm digging into my foie gras stash tonight and having a nice piece of whole goose foie gras with a lovely bottle of dessert wine. I'll toast you all, foie gras haters. You don't know what you're missing.
This comment thread is making me really, really hungry.
I've never had Foie Gras cause I just don't like liver. Thanks to this thread though I'm going to have to try some.... just to do it.
As for animal rights stuff.... we are Omnivore's. Not herbivores. Our bodies are designed to consume both meat and veggie's. Simple biology!
Heck and come to think of it, what about the Human cruelty being performed each and everyday by the fast food industry. I mean just today I saw a woman walking down the street while on my bicycle and tought 'Dang if I ran into her I'd total my bike. Heck she must weigh more than me and my bicycle combined!'. I can only chalk it up to the 'Super sizing' on the menu's of the fast food industry. At least that is what the press would have me believe.
Though I definetly will never give up my bacon cheeseburgers or slow roasted pork sandwich's smothered with mayo on white bread. I do understand something called moderation, at least when it comes to food. Despite having the 'munchies' quite often.
I'm going to have to agree with alot of people here in regards that this is just a bit of sensationalism to distract people from the real issue's this city faces everyday.
http://www.cafepress.com/keepyrlaws.360742117
veggie falafel ... foie gras ... two great tastes that go great together?
I live in D5 -- Supervisor Mirkarimi's district. I've lived at the same address for 12 years. I honestly believe that Ross has done almost nothing to benefit the district and the city. He won re-election with ease, but then again it's almost impossible not to win re-election in this city. It makes me think that district elections have had a very negative impact on the quality of life in SF. Where city-wide elections favored candidates with ties to big business, district elections favor candidates who can motivate small groups but very vocal supporters. It's a shame. I think there needs to be better balance in the way we choose our BOS -- maybe have a few at-large BOS members chosen from city-wide elections in addition to our current system of representation by district.
You may be right, but I'll take district elections which favor candidates who can motivate small groups over citywide elections with candidates who are completely beholden to big business any day.
And Mirkarimi did propose a Do Not Mail Registry, and as the unofficial person in my building who finally gets sick of stepping over the junk mail and takes it all down to the recycling. So I have to give him credit for that, at least, even though foie gras is the tastiest thing I've ever eaten in my life. EVER.
yummy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IWN8UGDyC0
This wasn't a ban, guys.
Just a commendation of restaurants who choose NOT to serve it.
Nicely spun for a sensationalistic blog post.
San Francisco is progressive on so many issues. But on this one, they are so incredibly wrong. The state shouldn't dictate what we can and cannot eat and how we prepare our food. If you believe in the rights of animals, then don't eat them. But these geese are raised to be eaten. Force feeding a duck is not analogous to force feeding humans. The expansion of a duck's esophagus and stomach can stand "harsher" treatment than we humans. If you've actually visited a foie gras farm that's reputable as the two farms in the US, then people would face to the emptiness of their goal in trying to ban this delicious product.