So my friend Zalbar posted a link to a Businessweek article the other day about a ban on of foie gras that is set to take effect next year in California. You can find the original article here: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/in-california-foie-gras-will-soon-b...
We just did an update to Stella Culinary and unfortunately the post was lost, so I'm reposting the link now.
The thing that really pisses me off about the whole situation is the "knee-jerk" reactions by supposed "do gooders" who jump on the animal rights bandwagon. I grew up with animals, in farm country, and as a chef, I've toured many live stock farms to see where the proteins I serve in my restaurant are produced. Bottom line, the better an animal is cared for, the better it will taste; it's that simple. Not to mention, when an animal is raised in humane conditions, it is less likely to get my customers sick. An obvious no brainer.
I buy my foie gras from Sonoma Foie Gras, which is one of the cleanest and most humane live stock farms you could ever wish to visit. If you want to truly be disgusted by animal cruelty, go visit a large scale chicken farm; and by the way, the only reason I don't name names, is because these same large scale chicken farms have a huge legal budget to sue people like me; which would obviously be better spent producing chickens who aren't raised in stacked cages, in the dark, with the chickens above them shitting on their heads.
True story: I had a friend in the central valley of California and one of his first jobs was to walk around one of these large chicken farms to pick up dead chickens by using the pointed end of a sharpened stick. THIS WAS A FULL TIME JOB, 40 HOURS A WEEK, AND YES, SOME WEEKS HE EVEN ACCRUED OVERTIME!
The same thing goes for beef. We have "animal rights activists" trying to put artisan family farmers out of business. They will literally threaten chef's and their families for serving foie gras and picket their restaurants, but oddly, they have nothing to say about mass produced cattle who are shot up with all sorts of antibiotics so they won't kill consumers.....because......they're raised in unsanitary swamps of SHIT! Literally!
So yeah, I'm pissed. But don't take my word for it. Please, read the following letter from an avian veterinarian who I GUARANTEE has more knowledge and understanding then the most adamant hipster animal activist who is too pompous to do any research before they hop on their shiny new "Coffee Shop Cause."