Letters to the Editor
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Again, strange that this is so divisive.
I'm not a vegetarian, but it surprises me how defensive most omnivores are. I admire vegetarians, if only cause they have to put up with so much half-baked philosophical jawing about why they're idiots, and people going out of their way to try to offend the sensibilities of the less carnivorously inclined.
Vegetarianism must strike close to a nerve for some people.
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people are hilarious
the idea that you could notice anything abnormal on a normal street about the attire of someone not wearing animal products is pretty funny. Synthetic fabric, fleece, shoes, etc. are quite common these days you will be amazed to learn. I've never heard an animal rights advocate say wild animals should be prevented from killing each other, so unless you have bringing in methaphysical meditations on the nature of life and death to justify a specific use of animals by people is also laughable. It seems the image of an animal rights activist getting all emotional over an animal being killed gives people an overwhelming sense of their own tough mindedness that often makes them very stupid.
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Foie gras, like veal, cannot be justified by anything.
It is not acceptable to justify foie gras, "milk fed" veal, or any other food producd by severe cruelty to animals on the basis that it tastes good. That is not only selfish, but anyone (like Anthony Bourdain) who makes such an argument displays a grotesque indifference to the suffering of animals. It is akin to someone who justifies purchasing sweatshop items because of their low prices: selfishness, mixed with indifference and apathy to the plight of others.
There are some places, notably in Korea, where dogs are whipped or suffocated slowly because the pain causes an adrenaline rush within the animal and, say the people who eat them, makes their flesh taste better. I suppose for Anthony Bourdain, that is all he needs to know to support that vile practice; no doubt he considers people who speak out against this torture to be fools. Hopefully, however, most people are outraged by this terrible cruelty to animals.
Foie gras is no different. The ducks suffer horribly, and for what? To produce a fatty, diseased liver which some people consider a gourmet treat. The ends do not justify the means, and to argue otherwise is depraved.
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Animals Are NOT Equal to Humans
Boo-hoo! The ducks are being force-fed! Boo-hoo!
The pain of being force-fed is God's way of punishing the ducks for being too stupid to get to the top of the food chain!
Foie Gras is Freedom!
The best thing all those vegans could do for themselves is go eat a hamburger.
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Take your picks, folks
If you want to be associated with the likes of "Foie Gras Forever," below, then go ahead. You'll just be another selfish asshole in a world that's full of 'em.
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The ducks do not suffer horribly.
Notice that the near universal plea of those who demand a ban on foie gras. They take as a given that there is cruelty, and post phrases such as “The ducks suffer horribly, and for what?”
It’s a circular argument. They claim that the ducks suffer, and thus foie gras must be banned because ducks suffer.
The problem is that properly produced foie gras the ducks do not suffer. The two major suppliers in the US use techniques that are both humane and acceptable. The ducks are not nailed down, or kept confined in cages. In fact, the ducks are free to roam around and swim and during feeding time come to their handlers to be fed.
While the method of feeding would not be acceptable to a mammal, it is to birds, as it is how they naturally feed when young, and they naturally gorge themselves as well.
Duck and foie gras are a form of meat, and a very vocal minority opposes all forms of eating meat. Foie gras, despite being one of the best forms of humane livestock treatment in the US gets singled out simply because the market is small.
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OMFG! Nah called me an "asshole"
How will I live? HOW WILL I LIVE?
Is this a dagger before me?
No! It's a big chunk of foie gras!
Hehehehehehehehe!
Go eat a hamburger, Nah. It'll put some soul in your lame psyche.
FOIE GRAS IS FREEDOM!
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Foie gras, despite being one of the best forms of humane livestock treatment
If this were really the whole story I doubt the HSUS would be supporting the ban, they are anything but a radical animal rights organization.
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Bush-Bots Hate Foie Gras
Freedom-loving FRANCOPHILES adore Foie Gras.
Ignore all the foie gras hating repukes.
FOIE GRAS IS FREEDOM!
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You should re name it Feedom Liver
I wonder how many dittohead heads have exploded trying to figure out whether they are supposed to hate the French or animal rights more.
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That would be Freedom Liver
uh ok
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Hoping for a diatribe directed my way...
About prospectively eating the feeble minded, but I got nothing. So again, to summarize, there is no possible way to consume an animal without subjecting it to some form of cruelty, pain, injustice, bad karma, inconvenience, or other form of indignity, yet still many (most) of us do. Are we heartless? --Soulless?-- morally bereft? Don't think so. We're better, and the better we are, the more likely we are to promote humane (as possible) treatment of the animals prior to our snuffing them out in the primes of their (considerably less important) lives. I'm against factory farming when it's at its most cruel, but no more than I'm against a diet of seitan, tofurkey, and other mock meats. Even done exceptionally well, they are just north of suck-errific; you can't convince me otherwise. Lentils and other legumes are a great side dish when prepared appropriately, and the rice and beans diet of the world's poor is fine as a subsistence program. Once the third world gets up to the second, they buy or raise the meat they crave.
I like foie gras, and as an American consumer, I receive a product that is procured much more humanely (don't get me wrong, these ducks don't get liver transplants afterwards and lead normal ducky lives) than most of the other animal protein eaten by the majority of this country.
So, if you're against eating all animals (grasshoppers, too?), say it proudly, and don't be so lazy as to just reach for the low-hanging fruit (meat? Sausage?--You know what I mean). Don't hide behind a product that, even if you're entirely successful banning, will hardly result in the reduction of any animal suffering. As a matter of fact, you'd likely be better off euthanizing your cat to put it out of your sad, pathetic misery.