January 10, 2006
Return of the Pleasure Police
First an international caveat on caviar, now a fatwa against foie gras? That's what Rep. Brendan Williams of Olympia says: he's introduced legislation to ban the force-feeding of birds. Never mind that most American foie gras is produced out-of-state, by a French family (of course) in upstate New York, Williams is against it.
Williams admits he did eat foie gras once, but tells the Everett Herald he didn't know where it came from. (Right, and Clinton didn't inhale.)
Shocked, shocked he was to learn it involved gavage, overfeeding to enlarge the duck's liver, a centuries-old practice that engenders modern outrage when applied to animals but remains enshrined as freedom-of-choice when it comes to Twinkies, Big Macs and venti double-chocolate-chip Frappuccino. With extra whipped cream, please.
By the way, there are some ghastly alternatives to foie gras out there for the PC crowd, made with mushrooms and tofu. Be my guest.
Contended geese--foie gras on the hoof--along the Dordogne River in southwest France.
Gavage with softened grain has been practiced since Egyptian times as winter approaches to encourage the natural accumulation of fat in the goose's liver.