SFist: Berkeley Votes to Ban Foie Gras

je.mange

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:56:25 -0800

Ducks and Geese have better lives than humans!

Sasha H

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:56:52 -0800

I used to work in Berkeley at a café/bakery. Yes, we got our fair share of knee-jerk food fad-ists (What is it this week - A wheat "intolerance"? A lactose avoidance? An alcohol rebellion? A meat ban?). However, I've seen much worse in SF with the obnoxious yuppy food and drink orders a la L.A. Story. Despite that tirade, I think this law totally oversteps... Why? Read this long but articulate bit from the folks over at Incanto: http://www.incanto.biz/letters_-_shock_and_foie.html

spysea

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:57:29 -0800

Mark2000 you should get your head checked , you'd eat a person? Wow .. now thats a nut job! ... Put the lotion in the basket Mark!

polymergirl

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:03:22 -0800

Another good reason to bypass Berkeley and head over to Albany. Solano Avenue and fewer bums and now fois gras

polymergirl

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:50:23 -0800

another good reason to bypass Berkeley and head over to Albany. Solano Avenue and fewer bums and now fois gras!

Mark2000

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:10:57 -0800

I'm a vegetarian myself, and I suspect many vegetarians are happy enough to stop the cruelest animal abuses first and then move on to the rest. This is just one step of many.

Mark2000

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:07:49 -0800

i bet all the people posting on this thread have never eaten foie gras nor have they ever seen the conditions of the animals. They just want to bash people for having some kind of compassion. Hipsters hate people who care about anything. I vote we take every Asperger's case who commented here and stuff them full of grain until it comes out their ears, then rip their heads on and harvest their livers. That's something I actually would eat.

RobInSF

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:55:15 -0800

Berkeley: Just Like Pissing Into The Wind, Only More Amusing.

spysea

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:43:45 -0800

Another reason to avoid this sh*thole

The Angry Young Man

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:20:33 -0800

So?

SteveIst

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:08:17 -0800

You know how geese in the wild migrate thousands of miles? They do that after gorging in the wild, and build up massive fat reserves in places like their liver, which they burn off while they fly across continents.

SteveIst

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:04:34 -0800

Yeah, but the fair trade quinoa vodka my friend is going to start importing soon will sell like hotcakes in Berkeley!

willnick

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:38:15 -0800

with that kind of logic you must endorse the common chinese practice of torturing dogs and cats to death to increase "flavor". one mans food is another mans fido i suppose.

The Angry Young Man

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:32:50 -0800

Bingo. There's a difference between allowing an animal to run free and live some semblance of a normal life prior to eating it and locking up a goose, shoving a siphon down its throat, and forcing it to constantly eat gruel until it's liver explodes. That's not natural, it's mean. I don't care how good it tastes (and I admit it, it tastes great!), it's still MEAN!

IZ1

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:24:46 -0800

The issue is not killing of animals for food, it's keeping animals in humane condition until they are killed. There are humane ways to kill and keep animals until they are to be killed. Just because we have the power and ability doesn't negate that we should treat animals in a humane way.

porkbun

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:21:10 -0800

like the SF Supes, Berkeley simply issued a resolution that they support foie gras-free eateries. It doesn't ban restaurants from serving the tasty stuff (although the state ban kicks in soon). It just wags a "you bad, bad boy" finger at them.

ChinaNob

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:18:00 -0800

Dude - you want Paris Hilton to be guillotined in public???

Brock Keeling

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:15:36 -0800

Anyone who abuses (or adopts a pet for aesthetic reasons) should be killed. In public. Brutally. Unless said laws affect what I like to eat, that is.

ChinaNob

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:13:28 -0800

Why stop at foie gras - why is the liver so sacred? What - its ok to eat roast goose flesh but not its organs? Chicken wings in BBQ sauce is ok, but not chicken hearts? Pork cracklings are acceptable, but don't be serving pork pate? I know a number of folks over in Oakland who live near Lake Merritt who would be perfectly happy if someone would eat up all those geese pooping everywhere. Seriously, what is this city's problem with organ meat? A bad experience with grandma's liver and onions as a kid? All this talk of offal has me hungry - I might need to book a dinner at Incanto...

feedthebirds

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:13:15 -0800

somebody is jealous

IZ1

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:12:04 -0800

So you disagree with current laws against animal abuse? I find that hard to believe

The Angry Young Man

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:07:17 -0800

I've never seen a bigger gaggle of goose haters in my life. Those water fowl exist for themselves, not for your tasty dining enjoyment. I don't care how "humane" some Alice Waters brand foie gras farm happens to be. The farmers are still FORCING these birds to eat when they'd rather be running about on their bird errands. Therefore, foie gras is wrong. I don't support legislation banning the stuff because, sorry, Ross Mirakarimi, as dreamy as he may be, is not so morally superior that he should have the right to legislate anyone else's lifestyle choices. Silent, glaring peer pressure is a more effective means of tormenting people into giving up goose livers. Remind me to throw some red paint on you guys sometime or something.

IZ1

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:52:23 -0800

A great story on Foie Gras is told by Chef Dan Barber...very nice story: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_barber_s_surprising_foie_gras_parable.html

ChinaNob

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:50:12 -0800

P.S. The only thing wrong with foie gras is that I cannot afford to eat more of it.

wsanders

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:47:14 -0800

Todos somos a fat duck's liver!!

ChinaNob

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:43:37 -0800

Should this surprise anyone? The average voter in Berkeley is a functionally-retarded busybody who reads too much Chomsky & Zinn, masterbating to their utopian fantasies while engaging in blog flame-wars over their $2500 Mac laptops while drinking $5 a cup lattes and getting 100% organic spirulina enemas.

Jonas

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:28:57 -0800

And so it continues. I think it's a safe bet to assume that none of the sheeple voting for the ban ever visited a Foie Gras farm, or - for that matter - ate Foie Gras. At the same token, how much should I bet that at least half of them has eaten at Subway or Quiznos, notorious for their meat coming from CAFO farms?

aj

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:22:22 -0800

Bad link at the end. I remember they had it at Oola, on Folsom near Lulu.