Foie gras production is revoltingly, horrifically cruel
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Getty
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Is anyone really still eating the diseased livers of tormented birds? As people all over the world are pushing for bans on the production and sale of foie gras, it seems the days of this disgusting “torture in a tin” are numbered. Good riddance to vile rubbish, I say!
Foie gras production is so barbaric that it is illegal in the UK – as well as in most parts of Europe. As such, it has the dubious distinction of being one of the few “ingredients” that Brits are banned from making but, paradoxically, permitted to sell, buy, and consume. Across the pond this week, New York officials proposed legislation to ban the sale of foie gras on the grounds of cruelty to animals. Absurdly, if this bill passes, it’ll still be legal to force-feed geese and ducks for the fatty liver within city limits, but the banned pate will have to be sold elsewhere.
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It’s a jarring juxtaposition: lawmakers on two continents trying to combat this issue from opposite ends of the production line. But complete prohibitions can – and do – come to pass. Back in 2012, California enacted a groundbreaking ban on boththe production and sale of foie gras – legislation that’s also within reach for the UK.
Currently, as the UK is a member of the European single market, which has rules on the free movement of goods, it would be challenging to ban imports of foie gras, which is still produced in France. But Brexit, despite its many uncertainties, will give policymakers the opportunity to acknowledge the public’s distaste for foie gras and fully close our borders to this inhumane and archaic trade. And seize this opportunitythey must.
Foie gras production is revoltingly, horrifically cruel – it involves intentionally inducing a painful, debilitating illness in a healthy, young animal. Workers roughly grab weeks-old ducks and geese and shove a metal tube down their throats, through which they force-feed the birds up to 2kg of food every day. This highly stressful process commonly inflicts serious injuries – according to avian-welfare expert Dr Ian Duncan: “The regular insertion of a feeding tube down the esophagus several times a day will inevitably lead to damage of the esophagus.” Eyewitness investigators on foie gras farms have found geese so ill that they could no longer stand up – even at facilities that boast the “highest welfare standards in the world”.
Celebrity vegans and vegetarians
Show all 25
Celebrity vegans and vegetarians
1/25 Ariana Grande, pop star
"I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding. But I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-round happier person."
Ariana Grande/Facebook
2/25 Paul McCartney, musician
"I've been a vegetarian for a long time now and over the years I've seen how the attitudes have changed around the world, so I'm not surprised when I see new research that shows more and more people are increasingly adopting 'meat free eating'."
Getty Images
3/25 Ellen DeGeneres, TV Host
"It doesn't make [Thanksgiving] harder at all. It makes it easier on the turkeys, too. They get to live."
Reuters
4/25 Morrissey, musician
"I see no difference between eating animals and paedophilia."
Getty
5/25 Bill Clinton, former president of the US
Dr Dean Ornish, Clinton's doctor, said: "I asked him, 'Why do you want to live longer?' and he said, 'I want to live long enough to walk my daughter down the aisle and to see my grandkids born and grow up.'"
Getty
6/25 Peter Dinklage, actor
Dinklage has been a vegetarian since childhood and featured in PETA's 'Face Your Food' film.
WireImage
7/25 Russell Brand, comedian
"I'm now vegan, goodbye eggs, hello Ellen."
PA
8/25 Ellie Goulding, singer
"I've got taxidermy, I've got animals.... deer and all sorts. But weirdly, I'm a vegetarian and I don't eat meat. I'm a walking contradiction."
Getty
9/25 Ellen Page, actor
Page was named as one of PETA's 'Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities' in 2014.
Getty Images
10/25 Al Gore, American politician
"There are 10 vegan restaurants in Nashville now." Speaking about how he maintains his vegan diet in the city.
Getty Images
11/25 Tobey Maguire, actor
Maguire said he was a vegan and "stopped consuming any mind-altering substances" when he was 19.
12/25 Stella McCartney
On her website, McCartney said that "the decision not to use leather or fur is not just because I don’t eat animals or that I think that millions of animals each year shouldn’t be killed for the sake of fashion. It’s because I also believe in the connection between fur and leather and the environment. There’s a huge connection."
13/25 Natalie Portman, actor
Portman converted from being a vegan to vegetarianism.
Getty
14/25 Woody Harrelson, actor
"I've always been relatively healthy except for my vices."
HBO
15/25 Jared Leto, actor and musician
"I'm pretty healthy... I've been that way for a long time - 20 solid years of eating vegetarian/vegan and taking care of myself. That probably helps the preservation process."
WireImage
16/25 Jessica Chastain, actor
It was reported that the vegan actor bought her mother a vegan food truck.
AP Photo/Sony - Columbia Pictures, Jonathan Olley
17/25 Joaquin Phoenix, actor
Featuring a PETA advert to promote vegetarianism for Thanksgiving, he said: "Holidays can be murder on turkeys. Let's make this one for the birds."
18/25
In March 2018, Beyoncé revealed she was following a plant-based diet when preparing for her headlining performances at Coachella music festival, while Jay-Z wrote about going vegan in a 2013 blog post, describing it as a “spiritual and physical cleanse".
Getty Images
19/25 Kate Mara, actor
Mara told E! Online that she stayed fit and healthy by being a vegan.
Getty Images
20/25 Alanis Morissette, musician
"I'm predominantly vegan, which my friends hate because it's not monogamous; 80% is vegan; the other 20% is following what my body needs."
Reuters
21/25 Alicia Silverstone, actor
Silverston has a blog called The Kind Life which discusses vegan and vegetarian food.
Rex Features
22/25 Kate Nash
"I became a vegetarian last September - I used to suffer from OCD and it got stuck in my head that if I didn't eat meat then my bunny rabbit, Fluffy, would survive a dangerous operation she had to have."
Teri Pengilley
23/25 Jennifer Lopez, singer and actor
Lopez said that she recommended a vegan diet "because you wake up and feel great".
Getty Images
24/25 Mark Hoppus, member of Blink 182
Hoppus announced he was a vegan on Twitter.
Getty Images
25/25 Olivia Wilde, actor
"[Being vegan] is not always easy and accessible. But it's a way of life and makes me as a person feel really good and physically look better."
Getty Images
1/25 Ariana Grande, pop star
"I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding. But I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-round happier person."
Ariana Grande/Facebook
2/25 Paul McCartney, musician
"I've been a vegetarian for a long time now and over the years I've seen how the attitudes have changed around the world, so I'm not surprised when I see new research that shows more and more people are increasingly adopting 'meat free eating'."
Getty Images
3/25 Ellen DeGeneres, TV Host
"It doesn't make [Thanksgiving] harder at all. It makes it easier on the turkeys, too. They get to live."
Reuters
4/25 Morrissey, musician
"I see no difference between eating animals and paedophilia."
Getty
5/25 Bill Clinton, former president of the US
Dr Dean Ornish, Clinton's doctor, said: "I asked him, 'Why do you want to live longer?' and he said, 'I want to live long enough to walk my daughter down the aisle and to see my grandkids born and grow up.'"
Getty
6/25 Peter Dinklage, actor
Dinklage has been a vegetarian since childhood and featured in PETA's 'Face Your Food' film.
WireImage
7/25 Russell Brand, comedian
"I'm now vegan, goodbye eggs, hello Ellen."
PA
8/25 Ellie Goulding, singer
"I've got taxidermy, I've got animals.... deer and all sorts. But weirdly, I'm a vegetarian and I don't eat meat. I'm a walking contradiction."
Getty
9/25 Ellen Page, actor
Page was named as one of PETA's 'Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities' in 2014.
Getty Images
10/25 Al Gore, American politician
"There are 10 vegan restaurants in Nashville now." Speaking about how he maintains his vegan diet in the city.
Getty Images
11/25 Tobey Maguire, actor
Maguire said he was a vegan and "stopped consuming any mind-altering substances" when he was 19.
12/25 Stella McCartney
On her website, McCartney said that "the decision not to use leather or fur is not just because I don’t eat animals or that I think that millions of animals each year shouldn’t be killed for the sake of fashion. It’s because I also believe in the connection between fur and leather and the environment. There’s a huge connection."
13/25 Natalie Portman, actor
Portman converted from being a vegan to vegetarianism.
Getty
14/25 Woody Harrelson, actor
"I've always been relatively healthy except for my vices."
HBO
15/25 Jared Leto, actor and musician
"I'm pretty healthy... I've been that way for a long time - 20 solid years of eating vegetarian/vegan and taking care of myself. That probably helps the preservation process."
WireImage
16/25 Jessica Chastain, actor
It was reported that the vegan actor bought her mother a vegan food truck.
AP Photo/Sony - Columbia Pictures, Jonathan Olley
17/25 Joaquin Phoenix, actor
Featuring a PETA advert to promote vegetarianism for Thanksgiving, he said: "Holidays can be murder on turkeys. Let's make this one for the birds."
18/25
In March 2018, Beyoncé revealed she was following a plant-based diet when preparing for her headlining performances at Coachella music festival, while Jay-Z wrote about going vegan in a 2013 blog post, describing it as a “spiritual and physical cleanse".
Getty Images
19/25 Kate Mara, actor
Mara told E! Online that she stayed fit and healthy by being a vegan.
Getty Images
20/25 Alanis Morissette, musician
"I'm predominantly vegan, which my friends hate because it's not monogamous; 80% is vegan; the other 20% is following what my body needs."
Reuters
21/25 Alicia Silverstone, actor
Silverston has a blog called The Kind Life which discusses vegan and vegetarian food.
Rex Features
22/25 Kate Nash
"I became a vegetarian last September - I used to suffer from OCD and it got stuck in my head that if I didn't eat meat then my bunny rabbit, Fluffy, would survive a dangerous operation she had to have."
Teri Pengilley
23/25 Jennifer Lopez, singer and actor
Lopez said that she recommended a vegan diet "because you wake up and feel great".
Getty Images
24/25 Mark Hoppus, member of Blink 182
Hoppus announced he was a vegan on Twitter.
Getty Images
25/25 Olivia Wilde, actor
"[Being vegan] is not always easy and accessible. But it's a way of life and makes me as a person feel really good and physically look better."
Getty Images
The birds’ livers balloon to up to 10 times their normal size – about the size of a rugby ball. A rugby ball! At this point, many of the birds can barely breathe, and they constantly gasp for air. According to veterinarian Dr Holly Cheever of the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, “due to the enormous size of the livers … The birds have no room for their air sacs to fill with oxygen … Analogous to feeling as if one is [being smothered]”.
Of course, we don’t need to wait for foie gras to be banned in the UK to do the right thing by gentle geese and ducks. Indeed, every world-renowned chef with an ethical bone in their body already refuses to serve it. This includes Wolfgang Puck, Albert Roux, and Alexis Gauthier – who, since removing foie gras from the menu of his French restaurant in London’s Soho, has created his own vegan faux gras recipe.
Prince Charles has rightly banned foie gras from royal menus. A number of British institutions – including the Baftas, the Brit Awards, The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (which hosts the Wimbledon tennis championship), Lord’s cricket ground, and both houses of Parliament – have also introduced policies against serving it, as have two of the UK’s largest catering companies, Compass Group andBrakes. Retailers Selfridges, House of Fraser, Jenners, and Harvey Nichols have all stopped selling it, and many hotels and restaurants across the UK continue to shun it.
Foie gras production and sales must stop now – if not because the law requires it then because it’s the right thing to do. We can all help protect geese and ducks from horrendous abuse by keeping foie gras off our dinner tables and refusing to patronise establishments that continue to sell this shameful, un-British product of torture
Elisa Allen is the director of Peta UK
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