Foie Gras

Foie Gras (pronounced “fwah grah”) is a French pâté that is inseparable from cruel farming methods.  In order to produce foie gras, translated as “fatty liver”, farm workers must force feed ducks and geese several times a day.  To do so, they shove a metal pipe down the throat of the duck or goose, which deposits grain, mostly corn, directly into their gullet.  Force-feeding causes the liver to swell up to ten times its normal size within a matter of weeks.  Besides the cruelty of force-feeding practices, ducks and geese on foie gras farms are subject to the same inhumane conditions as animals on all factory farms: unsanitary conditions, inadequate water, cages so small the animal can barely move, and often suffering of sickness or injury.  As the birds’ bodies quickly deteriorate, to the point of difficulty breathing, they are sent to slaughter, merely four months after they are born.  Their high-cholesterol, high-fat liver is then served in upscale restaurants.

Fortunately, there are only two foie gras producers in the United States – Hudson Valley Foie Gras and Sonoma Foie Gras.  These producers are only in business because of the stores and restaurants that sell foie gras.  Thanks to SLAAM and concerned citizens, eight restaurants serving foie gras decided to take it off their menu, making Salt Lake City foie gras free.  Many restaurants dropped foie gras immediately after reading a letter and watching undercover footage sent by a SLAAM member.  For others, it took weekly protests and leafleting to customers.  We intend to continue our efforts to keep this cruel practice out of our city, and hope to eventually enact legislation banning foie gras, as many European countries already passed.

For more information and undercover footage about foie gras, please see www.gormetcruelty.com.