The cruelty of foie gras

One of the most hilarious moments of the Disney classic “The Aristocats” is when the geese (in name and in fact) Adelina and Guendalina Blabla meet their beloved uncle Reginaldo, dead drunk, as he escapes a Parisian restaurant cook by a whisker. . 

The real foie gras production techniques , sadly, don’t have anything so fun. On farms , a metal tube is inserted into the throats of geese , to continuously gorge them until they become ill with fatty liver disease, a disease that causes the liver to swell up to ten times more than normal. 

This means that poor animals live a short life studded with excruciating differences , light years away from any standard of welfare. In fact , this practice is banned throughout the European Union , as it is considered incompatible with the 1998 directive on animal welfare. 

In fact, it states: “Animals must be provided with a healthy diet suitable for their age and species and in sufficient quantities to keep them in good health and to satisfy their nutritional needs. Food or liquids are given to animals in such a way as not to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury and do not contain substances that can cause unnecessary suffering or injury “. 

The story would be closed were it not for one significant exception, underlined by the NGO Being Animals : France , the undisputed homeland of foie gras, remains authorized to produce it. And, like her, also Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary and Belgium . This means that these countries can export it undisturbed to all the others, nullifying the ban.

The “no” from the mayor of Lyon

Also for this reason, the position taken by the mayor of Lyon , Verde Grégory Doucet , who abolished foie gras from the buffets of public events, caused a sensation. Asked by Gambero Rosso about why, he replies: “As an administrator I feel the responsibility to spend public money responsibly and, as we all know, foie gras is not a cheap specialty. Not using it in the various institutional situations can be, in the first instance, a good saving on the expense for catering and everything that revolves around “.

It may seem like a trifle, but it is not in a country for which goose liver is a cornerstone of culinary history. In a historical moment in which cities are called to respond to the climate and environmental challenge, however, it is also worthwhile to rethink certain traditions . “We must go in the direction of local, organic products that produce less environmental impact . And, in this context, animal welfare must also be taken into consideration ”, continues Doucet. 

And in Italy? The good news is that activism has paid off. Thanks to the campaigns carried out by the NGOs, Being Animals in the first place, thirteen of the major retailers have taken foie gras off the shelves : from Esselunga to Coop, from Carrefour to Iper. Because alternatives exist, they are just as satisfying to the palate but do not involve the needless sacrifice of these sentient creatures. And because every change begins in small steps , and the New Year’s aperitif is no exception.