A foie gras feeding frenzy has consumed Chicago in recent weeks, as a city ordinance banning the sale of the controversial delicacy approached.
Starting Tuesday, foie gras will be wiped from the city's menus and taken off the shelves of upscale grocery stores. Chicago is the first U.S. city to implement such a ban.
But foie gras connoisseurs shouldn't despair just yet. The city's top restaurateurs say the food fight isn't over and filed a lawsuit on Tuesday.
Foie gras, a French delicacy, is made from the livers of ducks and geese that have been force-fed. The practice makes the livers expand and soften. Animal rights activists have long said the practice of overfeeding is inhumane.
Canadian restaurateur Marc Thuet scoffs at this, saying the foie gras debate is rife with misinformation. He said blood tests have shown that the birds are not put under undue stress.
Thuet said that the decision in Chicago was reached hastily and robs the consumer of selection.
"People should have a choice," Thuet said. "And if they don't want to order it, then fine."
In Canada, Quebec farmers have gained international renown for their foie gras production, shipping the product across the country and around the world. But France is the true hub of foie gras production. In October 2005, France's senate passed a law declaring the delicacy a part of the national heritage.
Still, a growing movement against the fatty delicacy continues to gain support. In 2004, California passed state legislation banning the production of foie gras and set a target of banning the sale of the delicacy by 2012.
Chicago alderman Joe Moore proposed the ban in 2005, saying the practice of force-feeding the birds was torture. The U.S. Humane Society supported the proposal and launched a campaign urging Chicago residents to contact their alderman. The society said the caged ducks and geese experience bruising, lacerations, sores and organ ruptures. The council passed the ordinance banning the sale of foie gras in April.
More than a dozen countries including the U.K., Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland have introduced legislation on the production and sale of foie gras.
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