Comments on: Goose gitmo

By: frais

frais — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:37:44 +0000

Hello
What a lovely post.
I would add a comment to your caution, in the beginning of the post : in France, these pictures don’t potentially disturbe ! We are used to see that, because we can see gooses growing in the Farm.
Best Wishes from France !
Marie

By: Alison

Alison — Fri, 27 May 2011 03:47:00 +0000

Thank you for the article. I eat foie gras on occasion but i have know clue they shoved a tube down their throats. It is food for thought and i may stop eating foie gras.

By: Seriously?

Seriously? — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:41:46 +0000

“In a recent studies, scientists have discussed that plants feel pain. How is this different from any other living organism? It’s not.” – did someone really wrote that???? Jesus… What kind of study was that? Someone needs a biology lesson.
First of all, plants do not have central nervous systems, so they cannot feel pain. They do not have the capacity to escape animals (including humans) who would eat them, so what would the purpose of being able to feel pain be? If you cannot tell the difference between a carrot and a cow or parsnips and a pig, really, go back to school.
Second, the animals carnists like you consume have to eat something. YOU, little troll, are responsible for the deaths of far more plants than vegans are because it takes several pounds of plant food to produce a pound of animal food.
Anyone who doesn’t see the difference between slicing open a tomato and slicing open a dog is extremely disturbed.

By: Hmm

Hmm — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:24:28 +0000

For the one who said this method was alright for him: let’s insert a tube deep down your throat until your liver and see if that’s alright as well.

By: duck foie gras

duck foie gras — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:43:11 +0000

I think that foie gras production (duck foie gras or goose foie gras) is not more crual as veal or chicken production … so where are protesters for veal and chicken liberty ?

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:01:40 +0000

From the article:
“The food is corn, starchy, empty calories good for fattening he said. This stands in contrast to the balanced diet that the geese received while they were outside.”

In other words: the shoving of corn down the throat (literally in this case) of yet another animal so humans can consume more junk calories a little higher on the food chain.

For all of the comments mocking American meat in the comments above, any distinction seems trivial at best.

If mankind is so content on becoming even more obese eating unnecessary, excessively calorie dense foods, why does he need to exploit other animals to get there? Let’s leave the poor ducks alone and get to work on converting our corn surpluses more directly to a foie gras flavored twinkie if this stuff is so desirable.

While other forms of meat production may be worse in scope and perhaps even more worthy of continued criticism because of it, foie gras deserves its own status as an easy target for both criticism and legislation. Its egregiousness is hard to miss for the animal activist existing in more than just those who hold signs outside of restaurants.

By: Some like it hot and high alcohol – others don’t | Dr Vino's wine blog

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:13:25 +0000

[...] of the pairings reaffirm the classics such as oysters with muscadet and sauternes with foie gras, so score one for [...]

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:48:34 +0000

then pass me your slice… old boy !! And pour me a glass of Monbazillac,,have one yourself too !

By: Jos

Jos — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:24:57 +0000

I’ve stopped eating foie gras. I refuse to encourage such a practice.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:51:44 +0000

Mr PH RAGE. Please be calm ! You have made a fascinating if not controversial suggestion.

In the UK the parliament has a fairly bizzare bunch of muddled worthies called MP’s but fortunately we also have something called the House of Lords, largely full of old buffers, who, thank goodness seem to exercise greater wisdom, gravity and balanced thinking than the johnnies in the other place.

Since you suggest the diet of this combined group of worthies is so meat ridden it proves that the more you eat the wiser you become. Dismiss the veggies I say !!

By: PHRAGE

PHRAGE — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:22:28 +0000

Welllllllllllll Bullet Doctor I think your idea of evolution owes more to Homer Simpson than Charles Darwin.
An examination was recently made of the diets of parliamentarians in their canteen and it was found that their diet was appropriate and balanced- for Lumberjacks. There is a strong basis for the argument that high intellectual activity and longevity are best supported by a largely vegetarian diet.Furry plaque lined blood vessels first affect the brain eyes and sex organs.
i do still love a slice of F G though.
Another struggle of Homerian proportions (or portions) DOH !

By: BulletDr

BulletDr — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:22:06 +0000

I still do not understand the vegetarian movement that seeks to switch all people who currently consume animal products, to become vegetarians themselves (hello PETA). I can only be thankful that here in the US, the colonists who first settled this country (and the natives they met here) did not have such outlandish ideas or they would’ve starved the first winter. Without a scientific discussion of the ridges that are present on the frontal teeth of all humans, and the anthropological traits they signify (tearing flesh, not grinding plants) I’m left to infer that these people actually believe that post 1900 humans should’ve “evolved” to no longer need to eat flesh? How preposterous!
In my Darwinian model, I believe the PETA folks represent the latest in evolutionary trends in the homo sapien species, and will be proven to be an evolutionary “dead end”. In other words, these people are de-evolving. Left to themselves for several more generations, they should eventually return back to the trees (unlike their ancestors who left the trees to become hunter-gatherers) and disappear altogether.

By: PHRAGE

PHRAGE — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 07:24:54 +0000

hallelujah ! eureka! finally an articulate well informed apologist for one of earths most delicious foods. thank you LB whoever you are, and if you wish to taste the best foie gras on earth go to the Auberge de Combes near Lamalou les Bains in Herault France. I think they will ship also.
Cheapest is the stalls at the Central market in Budapest. Bon appetit

By: LB

LB — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:40:15 +0000

To clarify a few points, non migratoy moullard ducks are ued in the foie gras industry, but ONLY in the US, they are no present in signifificant numbers in Europe.
Second, ducks are not humans. Ducks and geese routinely swallow fish far larger and more irregular in shape than a gavage tube. They also swallow stones. Have you ever seen a hen house? Chickens, ducks and geese are kept in small, dark houses because that is what they like. They feel safe in a warm enclosed environment, they are in fact safe, from predators. Just because YOU would not like to spend your life enclosed in a shed being stuffed full of food, does not mean a goose or duck wouldn;t. Do NOT anthropomorphise animals, it is far more disrespectful than eating them, which is what humans evolved to do.
Some foie gras producers are cruel to their animals, not all. there is NO inherent cruelty in foie gras production.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:23:54 +0000

Jenny, foie gras is called what it is. It means “fatty liver” in French, since the French are the main providers and consumers of it. They’re not really hiding anything. Sure, English speakers could call it fatty liver too, but that lacks the international flare, and aural appeal, of the French name. Much like Bearnaise sauce sounds much better than “buttery egg sauce with spices”.

As far as the ethical debate… I think the notion of kindness is inappropriate when referring to the treatment of animals raised for food. I’d prefer they not suffer, but these are animals raised so that we can kill them and eat them. “Humane killers” sounds like an oxymoron.

Animal activism has improved the care and treatment of animals. But at the extreme, animal activism envisions a world where no one will ever hurt an animal. Animal activists need to keep those that deal with animals in line, and everyone else needs to keep animal activists in line.

If you take it to the extreme, either we have dog fighting or the police are knocking on my door because of reports that I used bug spray to kill the spiders in my basement. Either is absurd, but it’s up to each person to decide where to draw the line.

If you think forced feeding is not humane, stop eating foie gras. If you think killing animals is not humane, stop eating animals. If you think spiders deserve to live, invite them into your house. Otherwise, keep eating what you eat, doing what you do. In either case, drop the legislation. I’ve never eaten foie gras, as it’s not something that really appeals to me, but I want the right to make my own decision on whether or not to buy it.