Foie Gras

05/14/2008 Rebecca "the Claw" H. says:

no way foie gras is delicious

05/14/2008 Mahua "Bond Girl" C. says:

I think it's delicious too, but I can't eat it anymore knowing how it's made. Same goes for veal. Once I learned about the process, I couldn't touch it.

Shark fin soup...I was never a fan of it, and I became even less of one after learning how the shark fins are acquired.

05/14/2008 Matthew "The Sweet Titz" S. says:

no food should be illegal

05/14/2008 Chris H. says:

It's the animal's own damn fault that they're so delicious

05/14/2008 Rebecca "the Claw" H. says:

yeah i'm with chris

05/14/2008 Matthew "The Sweet Titz" S. says:

stop making your liver so f-ing good!

05/14/2008 grace "followers of the strong lead-er of evils" g. says:

i prefer pork adobo.

05/14/2008 Rebecca "the Claw" H. says:

huh?

05/14/2008 Shazz M. says:

i agree, its delicious!

05/14/2008 Brian "Konami Code" V. says:

How about veal topped with foie gras topped with a shark fin soup reduction?  My mouth is watering.

05/14/2008 Chris H. says:

Brian "Sans Nickname" V. says:

How about veal topped with foie gras topped with a shark fin soup reduction?  My mouth is watering.
---------------------

Precluded by an amuse bouche of Ortolan
http://en.wikipedia.or...

05/14/2008 Jeff O. says:

If god didn't want us to eat cows, he wouldnt have made em out of meat.

05/14/2008 Brian "Konami Code" V. says:

Chris "Momofuk'd" H. says:
Precluded by an amuse bouche of Ortolan

I need some of that.  Anything that people need to hide from God while eating is ok by me.

05/14/2008 JP B. says:

I'm glad they saw through that nonsense in Chicago!  I'm all for ethical treatment of animals, but cuisine trumps ethics in this case.  I can't get too worked up over force feeding birds when the result is foie gras.  It's not nearly such an unethical thing as overfishing, which is likely to wipe many species (including bluefin tuna) off the face of the earth.  IMO eating tuna sushi is a million times more wrong than eating foie gras.  Foie gras was just an easy target.  I'm glad Chicago saw through that nonsense.

05/14/2008 Mahua "Bond Girl" C. says:

JP, fair enough. So, do you avoid eating fish or certain types of fish? Do you like yours with extra mercury?

05/14/2008 Alex N. says:

I'm also glad that some pols in Chicago came to their senses. Lets face it, meat is not pretty. No matter how some people may try to make themselves feel better about it. Organic, free range, hormone-free, or whatever; doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day there is a dead animal on your plate. Most people eat meat. It is part of our culture, we are used to it, and we like how it tastes.
As to whether foie gras is particularly less humane than any other meat is highly debatable. And yes, there is some truth to what JP said, foie gras IS an easy target because there are so few producers of it (only two in the whole country if I remember correctly). As for the cold hard facts, we have to remember that most animals sold for human consumption are significantly overfed. And while this may be hard for some digest (pardon the pun), geese do not have a gag reflex, thus they do not experience pain or discomfort from the force feeding the way humans would.

05/14/2008 Steve "S&" M. says:

Oh Crap! Now I don't know what to do! First the politicians granted me permission to eat foie gras. Then they suspended permission to do so. Now they tell me it's OK again. Please politicians! I elected you to tell me what I can and cannot do. Stop confusing me like this. Just please make a list of stuff I elected you to to tell me what I am allowed to eat so I can religiously follow your holy dictates. Just stop confusing me by changing the rules so often and I'll keep voting to allow you to rule my life already!

Seriously (well, I WAS being serious although extremely sarcastic), the Chicago law was against SELLING foie gras, not serving it. Many restaurants had ridiculous menu items such as "The House Special Appetizer" which was a bed of harcots vert with a balsamic reduction - $22. If you would like a "complimentary" topping of seared foie gras with your special appetizer, just let your server know. No selling = no law breaking; total feel-good BS, this stupid "law".

Politicians, please just get you busybody noses the fuck out of our daily lives and concentrate on what we pay you yo do - sodomizing interns!

05/14/2008 michelle "champagne bubblehead" i. says:

i used to eat foie gras..... but no longer.

just my personal decision but don't judge those who still do : )

05/14/2008 michelle "champagne bubblehead" i. says:

PS: i LOVE adobo! mmm

05/14/2008 norm "brave" g. says:

steve, it's like i always say, you can't legislate mortality. --wait, isn't this the suicide thread?

ok, what i meant to say was, i thought foie gras was a french-asian curse word. you know, "foie gras, you sonofabitch!"

oh, and i'm in favor of free range veal. i think that means they put grass on the floor of the box.

i'm going to bed. rimshot please.

05/14/2008 Nadia S. says:

The french would never even entertain this discussion.  And probably laugh at us the same way they did when America got on it's high horse about "freedom" fries.  Chacun a son gout.

05/14/2008 Steve "S&" M. says:

Michelle - have you seen what they do to those poor adobos???! Unless we're talking free range organic adobos. Then you're OK.  j/k   ;-P

05/14/2008 Steve "S&" M. says:

Norm "Brave" G. says:
i thought foie gras was a french-asian curse word. you know, "foie gras, you sonofabitch!"
______________________________ ____________________-

Curse words???!!! Hey Brave, there are laws against that too! Especially on Yelp and coming to you soon on the internet compliments of our elected representatives, and also sanctioned by Yelp.com. You better watch your bad self.

05/14/2008 JP B. says:

Mahua C. - Yeah, I don't eat many of my favorite fish dishes anymore.  I think about it like this: what's worse?  Animal "cruelty" towards one species or hunting another to extinction?  Is Chilean Sea Bass or tono sushi worse than veal or foie gras?

Is eradicating a species somehow better than messing around with one we've domesticated?  COME ON, PEOPLE!

05/15/2008 E. V. says:

I live in Chicago and most people here thought the ban was ridiculous.  Nobody should tell you what or what not to eat.

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

Foie Gras is vile. Poison for your body, poison for the animals -- poison in every sense of the word.

I think a person has to be a little nutso to shove that shit in their mouth, especially knowing how it's achieved. You're eating a duck's diseased liver! Hello! Even if the diseased liver was accomplished by natural means (which it's not, of course; it's achieved in a dark, tiny pen with no natural light and a big metal pipe that shoves food down a duck's esophagus 5 times a day) -- it's still a DISEASED liver.

I'm constantly amazed and stunned by what mankind, at its own peril, will deposit in their mouth under the lame excuse that it's "just food" and that it's "tasty." Utterly amazed.

I'm also amazed to find that the same people on these boards who thought that it was cool of those cops to shoot Sean Bell and get away with it are also cool with torturing animals for "tasty" food. It's a very interesting pattern. Really shows how lack of compassion for humans and animals is interdependent.

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

stacy g. - but it's perfectly fine to fish the seas out to ruin?  The bottom line is that it doesn't matter what goes down in a specific case (whether animal or human) when compared to the much greater damage being done on a grander scale.  Tell me, where's the better place for outrage: the intentional abuse (or death) of a few folks and animals or the large scale decimation of many species across the planet?  The former is MUCH easier to be emotional about, but the latter might be a far more important (if less compelling) issue.

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

JP B. -- I don't eat animals and fish, period. So, of course, I'm against overfishing. Believe me, I'm on top of all of it.  But this was a discussion specifically about foie gras, which is a vile, completely unnecessary food that does nothing good for your body. So I commented specifically on that issue. But maybe you should start a new discussion about the general issue of endangering worldwide species and I will gladly comment there.

05/15/2008 E. V. says:

Foie gras aside, liver in general is a good source of vitamin A, iron, zinc, copper and manganese, and a very good source of protein, vitamin D, vitamin C, riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, phosphorus and selenium.

Of course, you shouldn't eat liver too often.  But just because you're a vegetarian doesn't mean you have to put down what others eat.  The angry vegetarians just make me want to eat more meat....

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

E. -- try to discern between anger and conviction. If you think I'm "angry," you should see how many of the meat-heads react when their meat is criticized. Angrily, defensively. Meat-heads are some of the angriest people I know.
As for all those vitamins and minerals you listed, you can find plenty -- and more -- in non-meat sources. No, eating liver is not, nor has it ever been, essential to man's nutrition. Liver is a byproduct of the meat industry and has been marketed in order to be sold. The meat industry is a business, first and foremost. And it's a business with a lot of greed and a nice dose of corruption, if you chose to look deeply.
I choose to treat my body kindly. I don't put dead flesh in it. But in treating my own body with kindness, I also treat the environment and my fellow beings in the same way. I call it awareness.

05/15/2008 Teddy "iBookmark" D. says:

Chris - it's really not the animal's own damn fault they're so delicious. They're forced into it by people.

Even if u want to save the animals, banning the food is the wrong way. Just legislate humane treatment instead and you make the foi gras go away by itself.

In any event, screw the animals. People are better and we deserve good food.

05/15/2008 Rebecca "the Claw" H. says:

Why am I not surprised that stacy g. is arguing with people on this thread...seems to be a bit too familiar.

Meat is good for you, the end.  Foie gras is tasty and who cares if it has no nutritional value, neither do a lot of the things i eat and they taste good and I love them.

05/15/2008 Mahua "Bond Girl" C. says:

JP B. - I'm actually with you on the overfishing. I'm careful about what I order and I refer to my handy Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood guide when I dine out or buy fish.

05/15/2008 Franco "Gris-Gris" C. says:

gimme my Foie gras!

05/15/2008 MCLOVIN L. says:

My son had some foie gras this past weekend at the resaurant we went to  ....he said it was ok but  to me...it just doesnt sound that interesting...plus cant have people protesting outside my apt.

05/15/2008 David "Tentative Dictum" M. says:

And yet the government still makes it a crime to eat a human liver.  fucking fascists.

05/15/2008 Alex N. says:

Stacy, you call it DISEASED like there is some kind of infectious disease in foie gras. The over-feeding causes many little fat droplets to form within in the liver. Sure, its an unnatural process, but one that goes back to the time of the ancient Egyptians. And, no, liver is NOT healthy for you, but something that can be enjoyed in moderation. If you want to talk about DISEASED, try some organic spinach fertilized by all-natural animal manure. E. coli-a-plenty.

"Angrily, defensively. Meat-heads are some of the angriest people I know."

People tend to get that way when you try to subjugate their lifestyle like that with arguments that you can dig a hole through.
Think the meat industry is corrupt? Let's not even get started on PETA

05/15/2008 Bing "Thread Killer" C. says:

Foie gras oh so good.....thank goodness Chicago finally came to their senses....at least on this one..

05/15/2008 Chris H. says:

I agree with the need to regulate fishing and sticking to more sustainable fish.  It's one thing to cultivate an animal for eating (foie gras, veal, etc) even if it pisses a few veg-heads off, because its sustainable, but another thing to fuck with the global ecosystem.  I want my grandkids to experience how good chilean seabass and atlantic cod tastes.

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

If one really gives a shit about animal abuse consider this: commercially raised chicken is far more abusive than making foie gras.  Try targeting that.  Foie gras is a stupid target when compared to the far more widespread (and more abusive) way our supermarket chickens are raised.

So why was foie gras targeted?  Because it's easier to go after something seen as elitist than something commonplace.  Any idiot who doesn't want to bother to THINK for a second can easily rally against a luxury good the elimination of which would have no impact whatsoever on their life.  That's why someone who's happy to order grilled chicken breast still might think wearing fur is immoral.  Someone who thinks SUV's are a scourge has no qualms about racking up the miles behind the wheel of their smaller (but only marginally more efficient) car.  Someone who eats tuna sushi or Chilean sea bass might still think there's something wrong with eating foie gras.

And where does it end?  If we want to talk about animal abuse how do we justify the killing of vermin?  What makes a rat so much different from a duck, chicken, fish or fur bearing animal that poisoning the rat (not a pleasant death) doesn't raise an eyebrow?  Poisoning the rat is fine, but wearing fur or eating foie gras is wrong (and just ignore the supermarket chickens and fish)?  Nonsense.  I'm not buying a word of it.  

Chris H. - It's unlikely your grandkids will know the taste of wild Chilean sea bass or Atlantic cod.  It's very unlikely they'll casually be able to order tuna sushi and get anything close to what you and I would recognize as such.  Enjoy it while you can, so you'll have one more story about the good old days to tell them.

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

Claw -- you utterly amaze and befuddle me. Do you have any compassion for anyone? I mean, I checked out your profile and you have a picture of a dog (yours, I assume). Is it not possible for you to extend the love you show this animal to an equally intelligent animal -- say, a cow? Is there not a little grain in you that is capable of that? Is your agenda to just be totally and utterly selfish in this lifetime? Have you programmed yourself to just move through life with a gluttony and dismissal of another being's suffering in favor of your own temporary pleasure?

It's like, here we are intelligent beings, capable beings, thinking, analyzing begins -- we are able to look at someone and go, "yes, this creature is suffering, terribly. No, this creature does not need to suffer."  We are, each of us, capable of just simply, calmly, making a choice to not hurt someone (unless we're sociopaths, but that's another story). And what do we have to lose from that? Not much. But what we do gain is the nice, fuzzy feeling of knowing we've helped alleviate someone's pain.

Doing good feels good, Claw. It's a good feeling. Living life with zero regard for others is, ultimately, an empty, draining feeling. These foods you shove in your mouth -- they will pass through you and down into the toilet. It's all fleeting. This kind of unremarkable end does not justify the gruesome means.

How did I arrive at these convictions? Very simply: By informing myself. By pulling back the curtain that shields factory farms, slaughterhouses,  meat monopolies from the public eye. Understanding that there's no more Old McDonald Had a Farm. That the majority of where our meat comes from is very dark, it's gruesome, it's ugly -- and guess what, we're ALL paying for it, our planet is paying for it.

No, we're not in the time of the Egyptians, when foie gras started, as Alex N. pointed out -- and good riddance for that! We're way, way past those dark ages. And we have no excuse for doing the same things that our ancients did.

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

stacy g - Killing and eating an animal does not preclude showing love toward it.  Ask any farmer.  The nice fuzzy feeling we get from doing the right thing is an illusion, since for every so-called right thing we do we unwittingly do far more wrong things simply by virtue of where we live and the huge amount of resources we consume simply living here.  Doing so called good DOES feel good.  It's called self-righteousness, not "being informed".  Get off your high horse.  Have some foie gras fer crissakes!

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

JP B -- You're confused.

05/15/2008 Jeff O. says:

stacey g, you have to stop killing plants.  I have seen fields miles wide of farmed vegetation. what once inhabited vast countrysides is now farmed in outdoor factories.  It is MACHINES picking them now. Plants without a name being yanked out of the ground before they have their first prom even. If we stop caring, how can we expect anyone else to?
I checked your profile and saw Duran Duran 1989 as your first concert.  Is it not possible for you too to be hungry like the wolf?

The stalks used to aim towards the sun. Now they are tied in bundles and stuck straight up without regard for their nutrition, a direct result of overcrowding.  Vegetable are forced to grow UNDERground because they are "unsightly" to the plantation owners. This has to stop.

05/15/2008 Brian "Konami Code" V. says:

stacy g. says:

We are, each of us, capable of just simply, calmly, making a choice to not hurt someone (unless we're sociopaths, but that's another story).  

Someone, yes.  Some animal which, unluckily for them but luckily for me happens to be lower on the food chain than me, not the same thing.  

stacy g. says:

These foods you shove in your mouth -- they will pass through you and down into the toilet. It's all fleeting. This kind of unremarkable end does not justify the gruesome means.

If you'd ever had a really good steak, unremarkable would be the last word you'd use to describe it.

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

Brian, have a heart, really. Grow a bigger heart instead of a bigger stomach. It's much more attractive.

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

I doubt it, satcy.  

I just don't hold to ideals.  I don't believe in good or evil.  Myopically denying one's self pleasure serves no greater purpose beyond the perverse self-satisfaction of "doing the right thing".  In a world as complex as that in which we live, even claiming to absolutely know what the "right" thing is approaches staggering heights of arrogance.  Killing is part of what people do, and it always has been.  Killing animals, killing each other, killing plants - the very act of living involves the death of other living things.  There have always been some who were uncomfortable with that, and obviously you're one of them.  That's fine.  You're quite welcome to take that stance.  Calling another "confused" because they choose not to accept that stance is pushing it, however.

Everyone likes to think they're somehow doing the right thing.  In the end there is no right thing, but there are plenty of self-righteous people.

I have no desire to join their ranks, especially when they start talking about which foods OUGHT to be banned.  As long as I have a voice I will loudly speak out against such nonsense.

05/15/2008 Steve "S&" M. says:

Come now, I think you're all being too tough on Stacy here. She's not all that far off the mark.

Maybe there should be a constitutional amendment passed forbidding the eating of all meat, fish and poultry in the US. After all, at a time when gas is $4/gallon and rising, we're forbidden from drilling our own oil of which we have plenty. Why in the world should we be allowed to take advantage of another great natural resource such as meat too? It all makes such perfect sense in this 21st century world of ours.

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

JP B. -- I feel sorry that you don't know the true joy of doing good. I can't HELP but do good, because I react instantly when I see someone in pain. It's a very basic knee-jerk reaction that millions of compassionate humans share.

Have you ever volunteered? Anywhere? Have you ever given a part of your own time, mobility, financial security to better someone who's in a less fortunate position than you? Judging by your cold, cynical response  -- I'm going to guess no.

I highly recommend it. It's kind of an elixir for the soul. Try it, it's quite good. You win and the person/animal you're helping wins too. It's good to win, JP.

05/15/2008 matthew "rehab is for quitters" h. says:

and, not that it matters - but cows are not as intelligent as dogs (yummy yummy dogs)

stacy - why is it ok to kill the potato?
do you wear leather?
do you wear silk?

do you wear a mask over your face. like a jain, and strain all your water so you don't kill a microscopic being? do you only eat grain and fruit that has already fallen from the plant?

if not your line is just as arbitrary as anyone else's, and just as indefensible.

you use the word "natural" a lot - we to me - natural is how billions of years of evolution has shaped us. and that isn't vegan. or even vegitarian.

life subsists on life. any restriction after that is choice (my arbitrary line is people and great apes)

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

stacy - How presumptuous and self-aggrandizing of you!  Of course I've volunteered.  Also I spent a few years working  with people with disabilities.  I'm neither cold nor cynical.  I'm rational.  I believe in treating my fellow man well NOT because it's doing "good".  NOT because I want to feel good about myself.  

I treat my fellow man well because I want to live in a society where that's how people act.  Looking out for the less fortunate is part of that.  It has nothing to do with "good", it has to do with how I want my society to be and what I can do to make it so.  Purely rational

As far as an elixir for the soul goes, I don't believe in souls, either, so that's not going to get me anywhere.  As far as elixirs go I'd consider foie gras a pretty good one!

05/15/2008 Shaun "Selling myself before I get put on the street" D. says:

Steve "Blind Gumbo Lee" M. says:

Oh Crap! Now I don't know what to do! First the politicians granted me permission to eat foie gras. Then they suspended permission to do so. Now they tell me it's OK again. Please politicians! I elected you to tell me what I can and cannot do. Stop confusing me like this. Just please make a list of stuff I elected you to to tell me what I am allowed to eat so I can religiously follow your holy dictates. Just stop confusing me by changing the rules so often and I'll keep voting to allow you to rule my life already!

Seriously (well, I WAS being serious although extremely sarcastic), the Chicago law was against SELLING foie gras, not serving it. Many restaurants had ridiculous menu items such as "The House Special Appetizer" which was a bed of harcots vert with a balsamic reduction - $22. If you would like a "complimentary" topping of seared foie gras with your special appetizer, just let your server know. No selling = no law breaking; total feel-good BS, this stupid "law".

Politicians, please just get you busybody noses the fuck out of our daily lives and concentrate on what we pay you yo do - sodomizing interns!
****************************** *************

I think it's obvious who the real Chauchee is.

05/15/2008 Steve "S&" M. says:

LOL, Shaun! I guess the liver's not really "complimentary" if you have to buy the plate of beans & vinegar, no?

05/15/2008 Shaun "Selling myself before I get put on the street" D. says:

hahaha!!!!

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

Shaun D. - I thought that was funny.

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

JP B -- Someone who believes that there's nothing wrong with needless suffering of a helpless being is definitely cold. Someone who expresses no emotion or need to help when they see someone in pain is definitely cold. Clearly, there's no rhyme or reason to shoving food down a duck's throat to make its liver swell five times its normal size. Clearly, it hurts them. Clearly, they live short miserable lives and face gruesome, painful deaths. If you don't see it, you're not just cold, but also a fool. I think it's pretty tragic that you consider a duck's diseased, abnormal liver an "elixir."  A big bowl of strawberries -- now that's an elixir.

05/15/2008 matthew "rehab is for quitters" h. says:

stacy  - you ignored all my questions.....

how can you be so cruel to a strawberry?

05/15/2008 Jeff O. says:

your pesticides killed my precious lobsters.

05/15/2008 matthew "rehab is for quitters" h. says:

but they probably saved a lot of humans

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

stacy - The foie gras issue is a red herring, just like fur.  Rally around this and you can have the smug self-satisfaction that comes from myopically believing you're doing the right thing.  Never mind what's going on in the rest of the world.  Never mind how much of it's resources we as Americans (even vegans) consume while plenty of folks on this planet starve to death every day.  Being SO concerned with the suffering of animals is a LUXURY born of our affluence.  In poorer countries they don't have that luxury because they generally have to face more in the way of human suffering.  

When I think of what issues I get behind because I want my society (and my world) to be a more ethical place I'm afraid foie gras ends up being far too insignificant to matter to me.  In fact I'd have to think long and hard before I could pass judgment on the ethics of it.  Like wearing fur, it doesn't strike me as something inherently "wrong".  Many far more important things do, so that'll be where I put my efforts.

And when the fringe comes marching up to tell me I'm wrong for wearing fur, eating foie gras, eating meat in general or whatever I'll let them think whatever they like.  That's a luxury we have in this country.  But if they try to take any of that away from me they're in for a fight.

05/15/2008 Estelle B. says:

I love this discussion.. it's getting very passionate! I don't eat meat (not vegetarian just don't like the taste) but I LOVE foie gras!

05/15/2008 Vishal D. says:

I still can't forget the foie gras in a shot glass amuse at L'Atelier del Robuchon.  A shot of pure fat.  It was phenomenal.

05/15/2008 Aris F. says:

Foie gras is just nasty, as is fried beef liver.

05/15/2008 Aris F. says:

Face it folks, until we humans acquire enough mutations through evolution (or genetic engineering) to allow us to perform our own photosynthesis, or its equivalent, we are stuck eating other creatures. Be they vertebrates, plants, molds, yeasts, etc. - living or dead.

05/15/2008 George L. says:

I think when it comes to food its just simple the order of the Food Chain.  We as humans are on top.  I know it sounds a bit arrogant, but really we are.  I didn't climb all the way to the top by eating carrots and grass.  So when it comes to food all is okay except other humans and monkeys.  Actually idk i may try monkey but i rather not.

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

George L. - We're at the top of the food chain by any means.  Plenty of things out there are happy to eat us.  It's easy to forget that because in populated areas we've going to great lengths to kill those animals.  We can't have ourselves being eaten, now can we?

05/15/2008 matthew "rehab is for quitters" h. says:

monkeys , to me , ok - not that i'm craving them. our cousins, however, gorillas, orangs, and the 3 chimp species (chimp bonobo, and human) are off my menu. I think elephants might be too intelligent too, but thats just a feeling i had whenever i rode or touched an elephant

05/15/2008 peter d. says:

allow me to quote one of the great minds of our time, immortal technique:

"look, let me make something abundantly clear for people that are so bereft of activities they feel like they gotta comment on mine. first of all, being a vegetarian should never be associated with being a revolutionary or being open-minded. that's a dietary choice.

if someone wants to proliferate the type of ignorance we're supposed to be fighting by thinking that, you're just f*cking yourself. i don't go around promoting beef and poultry, shoving it in people's faces. i don't castigate people for not eating steak sandwiches; and i would never diss someone for being a f*cking broccoli-head, or living off of radishes, or eating grass or tofu.

i like a lot of vegan cuisine. but the illogicality of expecting everyone to adopt their particular idea of what being healthy is, is just preposterous. i've seen some of you herbivores; and if you want to argue health, y'all need to eat some kind of supplement because some of y'all are so skinny that it's disgusting; looking like the only hip-hop motherf*ckers on schindler's list. being a malnutrition-*ss got nothing to do with being revolutionary or being on-point.

i'll be damned if i let somebody else push their agenda on me. you know i don't eat pork, not because i'm a muslim, i just don't really like it, but i really will f*ck a bird up. and fish is good when that sh*t is fresh. it's like my n*gga Vast Aire from Can Ox said. if you don't like the smell of burning meat, well then get the f*ck off the planet.

you know i don't criticize people for eating moss, then don't open your f*cking mouth about my food, man. i like beef and broccoli motherf*cker. mind your god-damn business. matter of fact...you know what? i'm out. i feel like some arroz con pollo, a banana daiquiri, and a  motherf*cking bistec empanada."

05/15/2008 Paulina "anthro-luvah" C. says:

i like foie gras and i like shark fin.  after seeing the shark fin industry video, i am now having second thoughts because of the animal cruelty.  anything on how foie gras is made?

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

Meat is meat.  I don't care about how intelligent it was before it was meat.  I don't think the IQ of my supper changes the fact that some beast died so that I may live.  I'm still quite comfortable with killing beasts to eat them.  I'd even consider eating human if that were my only means of survival.  Of course, I hope I never find myself in the position of having to consider doing so.

05/15/2008 George L. says:

lol I agree with much of what you said in this thread.  I would never want to be eaten! Thats got to be the worst way to die, being eaten alive AHH!!  I think I would try elephant =D

05/15/2008 matthew "rehab is for quitters" h. says:

jp  having to to survive is a different criteria than i was using when i ruled the apes out....

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

In the end I can't support banning foods, unless they happen to be from endangered species.  Even being poisonous isn't enough to make we want to ban foods.  After all, spinach contains oxalic acid, which is a poison.  Ten pounds of spinach is enough to kill you.

Think we should ban it?

05/15/2008 gabriella "Glenda the Good Witch" m. says:

my first foie gras was in chi-town before the ban (delish at the house of blues, actually).  i can say that  the ban caused a freqking foie gras frenzy in chicago!  it was like foodie prohibition with speakeasys and a special handshake to get it.  whenever you ban things, it makes that thing exponentially more desirable...heheh maybe i should ban myself :DD

05/15/2008 Mo W. says:

Stacy G. - you're an idiot. The liver is not diseased, or it would render rancid and inedible. The foie farms in the US are free range, not unlit little boxes. Grow up and learn the facts.

05/15/2008 Tim S. says:

Those like Stacy G that use the word "diseased" are using it for emotional effect.  They have no idea what it means but she has been taught to use it for - ya know - for "the animals".  Foie Gras in the US and in most countries is produced in an humane ethical fashion unlike most beef or pork produced from factory farms.  But animal "rights" activists can't get beef banned so they go after things like Foie Gras because its an easy target and they can sit around with their friends, drink their free trade wine, and say they "did something".

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

In the end an appeal to emotion does not a good argument make.

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

Paulina "anthro-luvah" C --
There are TONS of undercover footage on how foie gras is made. You don't want to indulge in this industry. I think people like JP B., Mo, Tims S. -- they just have no problem with being cruel. It seems to be in their nature. It's just been my experience that people who don't flinch at an animal's pain, don't give a hoot about people either. They go hand-in-hand.

Yes, the liver is DISEASED, Mo W. You're pathetic for thinking otherwise. Have you ever seen photos of a normal human heart next to the heart of an obese person? The latter's is significantly larger. Why? Because it has heart DISEASE.
Same with foie gras liver. It's a liver with IMPAIRED function. When an organ fails to function properly, any fool knows that it means it has a disease. It's so basic and simple, that you have to be a real ignorant fool to not know that. What you probably also don't know is that foie gras consumption may increase the risk of developing amyloidosis in susceptible people, which is difficult to treat and often fatal. And here is the extensive medical study behind that conclusion: pnas.org/cgi/content/f...

But back to how foie gras is made. The Humane Society, which you fools have probably heard of -- the largest and most effective animal protection organization in the world, which fights for passing human legislation for animals -- published one of the most cohesive reports I've seen on foie gras.

hsus.org/farm/resource...

If you want to see videos, just go on youtube and type foie gras. You'll find more than PLENTY to give you shivers for days.
Like this one:
youtube.com/watch?v=7K...

And all of these:
youtube.com/results?se...

The world is full of cruel idiots, as I've learned. But the world is also full of truth. And when you know the truth, when you understand it, that's when you prevail. In trying to help people understand why cruelty is wrong, I've dealt with assholes a plenty. So trust me, you keep yapping here on yelp, and you'll  keep getting a response from me.

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

stacy - That's soooooooooo enlightening!!!!11one  I've changed my opinions on this issue entirely.  Thank you SO MUCH!

05/15/2008 Alex N. says:

We really have to put to rest the notion that foie gras is particularly cruel or that these livers are DISEASED. Observe this video

http://youtube.com/wat...

Footage of the same process, completely different perspective. Thank you Mr. Bourdain!

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

Bourdain good!

05/15/2008 E. V. says:

thanks for the clip, Alex

05/15/2008 Teddy "iBookmark" D. says:

stacy g. says:
Brian, have a heart, really. Grow a bigger heart instead of a bigger stomach. It's much more attractive.
***
Cute line, but myocarditis or cardiomegaly are symptoms of heart disease and not particularly attractive.

05/15/2008 Brian "Konami Code" V. says:

Once again, Anthony Bourdain speaks and He shows us the way.

05/15/2008 stacy "vegans take over the world" g. says:

Alex -- give me a break. Bourdain visits ONE FARM, which clearly rolled out the red carpet for him and made sure all of their dead ducks were out of sight. I mean, come on -- it's Bourdain! The same freak who eats the live beating heart that had been extracted out of a cobra. He has no regard for animals. So is it any surprise that he figures out a way to defend foie gras so that restaurants like his can keep making money.

But if you drop by Hudson Valley unexpectedly on any given day, you'll find a totally different picture that has been well documented everywhere from New York magazine to local reporters in the Hudson Valley. And worse still, Hudson Valley is also polluting the water. Last March, it was find $30K by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The violations involved the discharge of manure pollutants and building an unauthorized cesspool. And just this past November, they had a huge fire that killed 15,000 ducks. The fire was started because the machinery and heating system they use is archaic and improperly maintained.

When I first heard about this disaster, I really had to think about the karma for the people who run that sad place.

05/15/2008 JP B. says:

I wouldn't go so far as to say "He Shows Us the Way", but I will say that I end up agreeing with him more often than not.  He's not someone to look up to, just a very lucky bastard whom I happen to agree with more often than not.  

One still has to think for one's self, regardless.  Or not.  I still think it's better to think for one's self than not...

05/16/2008 simon "simon" p. says:

Stacy G: none of the points you make have anything to do with the production of foie gras. Pollution, mismanagement and other violations are endemic to the entire food production system in this country. Including the production of vegetables. The farming of fish. Raising cattle, chicken, and pork. To single out foie gras is stupid and opportunistic and disingenuous. What we need is to reform ALL of our industrial farming practices, not just ban foie gras. Banning one thing in the name of so called humane treatment of ducks and geese, who have no gag reflex and are natural gorgers by the way, only encourages people to feel self satisfied with their pseudo moral victory and turn a blind eye to much bigger, much more pressing problems. Foie gras bans are easy, low hanging fruit. You should be much more concerned with the practices of Cargill, Tyson, ADM, Monsanto, Purdue, etc. Your sentiment is well intentioned, but entirely misplaced. The only solution is to be informed as opposed to being a knee jerk sentimentalist, to put pressure on individual producers to raise their standards, to only buy products from producers you know are responsible, and get involved politically to demand better legislation.

05/16/2008 Bill K. says:

I don't agree with Stacey G., but I like that she provides evidence to support her arguments.

05/16/2008 simon "simon" p. says:

Whatever. He arguments are misplaced. If we were to take action by banning stuff based on her reasoning, we would have to ban 99.9% of all food production in the US.

05/16/2008 Bill K. says:

It seems very dismissive to label as a knee jerk sentimentalist someone who has taken the time to inform themselves and carefully weigh their position.

05/16/2008 matthew "rehab is for quitters" h. says:

bill - she does the same

she immediately assumes anyone who does not agree with her does so from ignorance, fear, and not thinking it out.

i've thought about it for many years. come from a  subculture rife with veggies. i've considered it, mulled it over, examined my thoughts and feelings.

and i don't agree.

05/16/2008 JP B. says:

Bill K. - It is dismissive.  Then again, her use of ad hominem attacks and appeals to the emotion in the course of making her points (well before she provided much in the way of factual backup) invited such dismissiveness.

Further reading:
http://www.enjoyfoiegr...