Boo hoo hoo! No goose liver in Chicago! What is going on?
I have never eaten goose liver, and won't ever do so. But since Chicago is home, I do have to wonder what the city is doing in banning foie gras (goose liver). Trust me — there are worse problems in Chicago than goose liver.
For goose liver lovers, the ban does not take effect until late June. And numerous restaurants that serve it are as close as the near suburbs.
The controversy stems from fancy restaurants where I wouldn't eat unless someone else were paying (and still not getting the foie gras). Ban supporters claim its production of foie gras is barbaric, with tubes jammed down the gullets of ducks and geese to force-feed them until their livers swell to 10 times normal size.
If that were relevant elsewhere in food production, we wouldn't have chicken or beef either. Seriously, I'm an omnivore, but I'm disgusted with how "meat" animals are raised.
On principle, I don't believe anything that is legal should be banned. A boycott would seem to be a better option. After all, if people are worried about the ducks and geese, and I presume they are, who sets the standard for lifting the foie gras ban in Chicago? Are they out to change the growers' behavior?
I suppose if I liked foie gras, I would care. But I care in the sense that something I like could be next.
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