Psst...wanna score some pate?
The chef at one of Birmingham's best known restaurants tells me that he's taken foie gras off the menu - not because of the animal rights protests taking place, but simply because it wasn't selling well. Perhaps the activists are winning the propaganda war.
But how long, I wonder, before it disappears from menus to be sold under the counter - a bit like booze in the United States' sorry and misguided Prohibition era?
I can't help thinking there would be an added excitement if a waiter furtively whispered: "Wanna score some of our special pate, man?"
Perhaps the animal rights campaigners should worry that forbidden pleasures are often considered the best.
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Paul Fulford - Features Editor Paul Fulford gives his verdict on the region’s restaurants.
Hey Paul, are you that troubled detective off the Trial and Retribution series? You look like him. Just a thought.
Hi Lynda. Your comparison is a lot kinder than the ones made by colleagues who are apt to liken me to a small, gnarled and slapheaded creature from the Lord of the Rings films. All down to jealousy on their part, of course.
"Forbidden pleasures" are usually considered the best when other beings don't have to endure extensive torture and abuse.
We're not worried in the slightest and having recent victories at Simpsons and also Purnell's not to mention vast public support it won't be long before Birmingham is foie gras free.
A fantastic 22 people turned up to demonstrate outsode of OPUS restaurant-Saturday 5th April.
We always keep a close eye on the restaurants who claim to stop selling foie gras, i assure you "under the counter" selling is not an issue of which we are concerned.
FOIE GRAS FREE BIRMINGHAM
A question to opponents of foie gras: would you oppose restaurants serving the foie gras produced in Spain using the fattened livers of free range geese that gorge naturally on grain before the migration season?
It seems to me to be a possible compromise but I'm interested in your take on the issue.
Likewise do any chefs/foodies have views on so-called humanely-produced foie gras?
Paul:
It is impossible to create the mass produced Foie Gras without the force feeding the animals, no animal would gorge themselves painfully to cause their liver to enlarge to 10 times it's normal size.
Yes, there is a very small proportion that is free range and the liver is nowhere near as big (of course), however much of the so called "Humane" production isn't much different than the conventional process, often they just use a rubber pipe rather than a metal one, citing that this is more "animal friendly". This word "Humane" is extremely subjective and doesn't mean the animals don't suffer horribly.
How can this possibly be called a delicacy? If you read "Fatty Diseased Liver" as an item on the menu would you order it?
Birmingham will be Foie Gras free in the near future. It's only a matter of time.
Thanks for the input, PXG. Mass production of food is to blame for a lot of ills - from battery hens to harmful additives in processed food.
Another question: if the campaigners do make Bham free of foie gras, will they then turn their attention to other perceived symbols of cruelty?
Is the agenda to turn us all veggie through lack of choice?
You are welcome Paul,
The focus of the Foie Gras Free Birmingham campaign is to remove this disgusting item from the menus of the restaurants that continue to import and serve it in Birmingham. There is no hidden agenda..... of course I would love to see the abolition of animal cruelty and speciesism, but large social movements don't just happen over night, they take a long time (but this is leading to a whole other topic).
The issue at hand is that Foie Gras production is incredibly cruel for the animals, however you may also want to consider a another angle, it has also been linked to medical problems in human beings: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070618174658.htm
You may have also noticed that the City of York is attempting to ban the sale of Foie Gras completely within it's jurisdiction so it's not only animal rights activists who take issue with this item: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/york-starts-campaign-to-ban-citys-restaurants-from-selling-foie-gras-396107.html
As I am sure you know, British animal welfare laws prevent foie gras production in the UK because of the methods employed.
Paul, my question to you is thus, and I ask this with the utmost respect: Have you considered looking into other food items/options that don't cause immense suffering?
There are so many great tasting foods and dishes that existing on this earth that are plant based. Believe it or not my personal experience since giving up all animal products has been that I now eat a more diverse range of foods than I ever did as an "omnivore".
No one is attempting to bully you into anything, this I can assure you. In fact it's not directly about you or meat eating population, it's about ending the immense cruelty of Foie Gras production.
Hope this feedback is of use, thanks for your time.
Thanks for that, PXG. I'm relieved there's no hidden agenda.
There are many non-meat foods I enjoy - lentils, beans, tofu, mushrooms, vegetables etc etc. In fact, I try to eat non-meat food twice a week and one of my favourite restaurants is Jyoti, the south Indian veggie place in Sparkbrook.
But I do enjoy meat and offal. However, I try to eat meat that has been naturally reared not only because I believe it tastes better, but because I think it's the right thing to do.
And though I enjoy foie gras, I do believe the free range product to be more acceptable than that produced the conventional way.
Paul,
That's great that you seek out non-meat based options on a regular basis.
I can appreciate that you do what you feel is right. I live very much the same way.
For me eating meat always felt wrong, however I suppressed these feelings for many years in order to subscribe to "social norms" and fit in.
Once I opened my eyes though, and decided if I could not look at how my food is produced and be able to say "I'm OK with that" then I would not eat it as that would be wrong.
For me not being vegan would go against my ethics, principles and feelings.
I have also never understood why we treat one set of animals as companions and the other as food, to me this is deeply schizophrenic.
I believe that all sentient life should have the right to live on it's own terms (not ours), even naturally reared animals lose this right.
Equally, it feels right to protest against dishes of extreme cruelty like Foie Gras and raise awareness as people often don't realize that they are consuming a diseased liver created by extreme torture and pain.
Thanks for the conversation and your open-mindedness.
Paul,
That's great that you seek out non-meat based options on a regular basis.
I can appreciate that you do what you feel is right. I live very much the same way.
For me eating meat always felt wrong, however I suppressed these feelings for many years in order to subscribe to "social norms" and fit in.
Once I opened my eyes though, and decided if I could not look at how my food is produced and be able to say "I'm OK with that" then I would not eat it as that would be wrong.
For me not being vegan would go against my ethics, principles and feelings.
I have also never understood why we treat one set of animals as companions and the other as food, to me this is deeply schizophrenic.
I believe that all sentient life should have the right to live on it's own terms (not ours), even naturally reared animals lose this right.
Equally, it feels right to protest against dishes of extreme cruelty like Foie Gras and raise awareness as people often don't realize that they are consuming a diseased liver created by extreme torture and pain.
Thanks for the conversation and your open-mindedness.
I think we all have a duty to question how our food is produced and make a judgment about whether we can accept the ethics (or lack of) involved in its production.
Obviously that applies to meat, but also to fishing and the growing of fruit, vegetables and cereals.
How many acres of land in impoverished countries are given over the cash crops intead of crops that could sustain the population?
Buy local, buy organic, buy seasonal.
I agree, buy local, organic and season as much as possible. Even better grow some of it yourself if you have the space.
The exploitation of third world countries is a big problem, however this also brings you right back to the amount of acres of land that is used to grow grain for mass animal production.
Then all the land that is used (and destroyed) for rearing the over populated animals and factory farming all in the name of demand and profit.
A problem is that people expect "prime" meat on the table seven nights a week when once it was regarded as a luxury item.
I use the term "prime" with reservation since what is often bought is fairly appalling stuff that come from intensively reared animals and birds.
Cheaper cuts of meat and alternatives - pulses and grains etc - are dismissed because many people are unskilled in their preparation or frown on using what they consider inferior ingredients.
Better to eat a top-class carrot than a bit spongey chicken, I reckon.