Paul Levy

In defence of foie gras

issue 11 November 2023

Apoll shows that nine out of ten Brits want to ban the import of foie gras. Crumbs! Haven’t they got anything more important to worry about? The Times says about 200 tons are imported from Europe every year. I only wish some would come my way. Though the same article says Waitrose stocks this greatest of all delicacies, I can’t remember seeing it in our local branch.

The trouble is that the campaign against these large, buttery duck livers (goose liver is rare) is based on Yahoo-worthy ignorance and antique disinformation, such as the fading photographs that used to circulate of webbed feet nailed to the shed floor. While I haven’t been able to discover the extent of industrial foie gras production, what one encounters in France is mostly artisanal, produced on farms, not factories.

As for ‘force-feeding’, it all depends on what you think this means.

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