Today, I came across a blog entry that was absolutely disturbing. It is about a gourmet meal called the foie gras (the literal translation for this dish is “fatty liver”) – basically, this dish involves the cooking of the liver of geese (or ducks).
While the thought of eating an animal’s internal organs in itself may be unpleasant enough to deter you from even considering this dish, there is a lot more to it. While I am no nutrition expert, my biology training tells me that this dish is probably very high in its cholesterol content and thus is not healthy. The liver, the largest filtration organ of an organism, filters all the “junk” we consume, including poisons. Why one would enjoy eating animal livers is beyond me.
But the main reason why this article is written is not because foie gras is an unhealthy meal; it is because the production of this dish involves some very inhumane and gruesome methods, and to me, it was just sickening. I have captured a few images below. A word of warning: these pictures are not suitable for the viewing of everybody – you have been fore-warned.
In order to prepare a dish of foie gras, geese/ducks must be induced into a physiologically sick condition called fatty liver. This is achieved through a process of force-feeding, and assisted by a complete restriction of movement that would allow the animal to use up some of the foods’ energies.
Birds are confined to cages that are just slightly wider than their bodies. The birds cannot spread their wings, and cannot even turn around.
As frequently as three times a day, workers use force to insert a long metal tube (up to 30cm in length) into the bird’s mouth. And food is squeezed into the bird’s stomach. Birds can be injured or even killed during the force-feeding.
The amount of food forced into these animals’ stomach is so substantial that the food may overflow backwards out of the mouth (some articles call that vomiting, but I do not think birds have a vomit reflex) and may suffocate the birds.
If the force feeding is successful, the birds’ livers are progressively enlarged. When the birds are finally slaughtered, their livers can be more than 10x the size of a normal bird.
And all this for a delicacy that people pay a lot of money to eat. I am sorry, but even if it is the best-tasting food in the world, count me out as a person who would want to eat it.
For more information, Wikipedia has a couple of entries that are very good starting reference:
Foie Gras
Foie Gras Controversy
While the thought of eating an animal’s internal organs in itself may be unpleasant enough to deter you from even considering this dish, there is a lot more to it. While I am no nutrition expert, my biology training tells me that this dish is probably very high in its cholesterol content and thus is not healthy. The liver, the largest filtration organ of an organism, filters all the “junk” we consume, including poisons. Why one would enjoy eating animal livers is beyond me.
But the main reason why this article is written is not because foie gras is an unhealthy meal; it is because the production of this dish involves some very inhumane and gruesome methods, and to me, it was just sickening. I have captured a few images below. A word of warning: these pictures are not suitable for the viewing of everybody – you have been fore-warned.
In order to prepare a dish of foie gras, geese/ducks must be induced into a physiologically sick condition called fatty liver. This is achieved through a process of force-feeding, and assisted by a complete restriction of movement that would allow the animal to use up some of the foods’ energies.
Birds are confined to cages that are just slightly wider than their bodies. The birds cannot spread their wings, and cannot even turn around.
As frequently as three times a day, workers use force to insert a long metal tube (up to 30cm in length) into the bird’s mouth. And food is squeezed into the bird’s stomach. Birds can be injured or even killed during the force-feeding.The amount of food forced into these animals’ stomach is so substantial that the food may overflow backwards out of the mouth (some articles call that vomiting, but I do not think birds have a vomit reflex) and may suffocate the birds.If the force feeding is successful, the birds’ livers are progressively enlarged. When the birds are finally slaughtered, their livers can be more than 10x the size of a normal bird.And all this for a delicacy that people pay a lot of money to eat. I am sorry, but even if it is the best-tasting food in the world, count me out as a person who would want to eat it.For more information, Wikipedia has a couple of entries that are very good starting reference:Foie Gras
Foie Gras Controversy
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