Bon Appétit Ducks the Foie Gras issue
No, seriously…they do! They even title the article “Ducking the Issue” in the March 2006 magazine.
The foie gras issue is the one surrounding the force feeding of ducks in order to fatten their liver. Called gavage, it’s the act of forcing a tube down the ducks throat and feeding them 1 to 11 ounces of feed. This occurs three times a day. Some people feel that this act is cruel. Others believe it to be no worse than other practices found on the farm.
Rand Richards Cooper goes to a fair amount of effort to cover both sides of the debate (something our own Derrick did at Growers and Grocers), but he never comes down to a full conclusion on whether the force feeding of ducks is a bad thing, or simply part of the necessary efforts required to make the liver. He writes at the end of the article:
What might it mean as a diner to be morally alert? For those of us who accept meat-eating as part of our nature, perhaps the challenge lies in looking beyond what’s on our plate, toward what Michael Pollan in his forthcoming book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, calls “the invisible but crucial transaction between ourselves and the animals we eat.” When we learn more about the transaction, we can decide, one by one, whether to take gastronomy’s glittering gem and cast it from the table.
To tell you the truth, I’m still thinking about it.
You have to admire Bon Appétit to put forth an article on one of the more controversial aspects of the gourmet world and then say that they don’t know whether they’re for it or against it. They want to appear conscionable, as several big name chefs have come out against the force feeding of the ducks, but at the same time, there are other big name chefs covered in their magazine who have thought about the issue and still use foie gras.
Bon Appétit’s waffling on the issue is the perfect microcosm for the larger debate — how does one deal with the fact that animals are going to suffer for our meals? Clearly the magazine cannot go vegetarian, as many individuals have done.
It’s not an easy question to answer on the surface, which is why the question is rarely raised in this day. It’s easier to ignore the issue than address it.
But as we become further detached from the sources of our food, it will become easier to shock the general public with displays of common food practices. Out of context, these scenes will appear gruesome, when in the agriculture industry, they are everyday business practice.
For the record, I eat foie gras. I’m sure you can draw your own conclusions on where I fall in the debate.
When I did my big Art of Eating piece on the dilemma of foie gras in 2004, I also couldn’t come to a final conclusion. I held off writing my last paragraph, knowing that I was going to have to make some sort of decision.
Finally, I just said I can’t. It’s too fuzzy and gray, more so I would argue than other forms of food production. You can buy ethically raised beef, but you can’t buy foie gras that’s been made without force-feeding.
I’ve had numerous people say they wish I had made a decision, and I’ve heard other people (including, thankfully, my editor) say that they liked that I acknowledged the grayness.