Will Reno, Nevada become the place to go in the West for foie gras?
After all, California's ban on foie gras kicked in July 1. And those Californians need to travel to make a score. Reno is right on the border with its own airport. The Nevada city can legally sell foie gras.
We are now in Day 11 of California: Vie sans foie gras (life without fat liver). Things have been calm, for now, but you never know when the people will take to the streets to get back their goose liver.
Having lived through Chicago's foie gras ban, you find two things to be true. The ban is silly, and at some point, the ban will be repealed. And you'll be back to square one.
"Well, San Francisco banned Happy Meals and you agreed with that. So why aren't you happy about California banning foie gras?
We are generally opposed to the idea of banning foods, though we are glad to make an exception for high-fructose corn syrup. Even then, all we really want is to stop using taxpayer money to subsidize the cost of high-fructose corn syrup.
Also, San Francisco didn't ban Happy Meals; the guidelines allowed for Happy Meals if certain nutritional requirements were made. Overreaching, yes. And we said that as well.
I'd be willing to bet that McDonald's sold more Happy Meals in the Bay area in a week that Californians ordered foie gras in a year.
What makes the foie gras ban even more remarkable is that so few, even in California, have ever had foie gras. Those who can afford it will likely find a way to get it. Most Californians won't find their lives changed by a lack of foie gras.
I've had foie gras twice in my life, the last time I had to be told that foie gras was in my dish. Both times I had foie gras in Montréal, so I haven't even had it in the United States. I honestly could take it or leave it, but this isn't about me.
In the time that California took to pass the law (September 2004) and when the law came into effect (July 1, 2012), the city of Chicago undertook a ban on foie gras (April 2006) and the lifting of that ban (May 2008). Perhaps Chicago's ban was before its time, but in a city known for deep dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches, and cheesecake, foie gras seemed like health food. And Chicago doesn't share the level of indignation against foie gras that better suits California's id.
Chicago's ban crumbled in part because one restaurant purveyor (Doug Sohn of Hot Doug's) challenged the ban by outright selling foie gras, where some chefs got around the ban by giving it away for free (perfectly legal). Having a law on a state level will make that tougher, and California's penalties are steeper.
Decisions about food are better made when individuals make the decision themselves. Government has a role to make sure people aren't tricked into consuming something they otherwise wouldn't want to eat (e.g., castoreum). An informed society is a better society as a result, but you can't make moral decisions for other people.
This isn't to say that doing what they do to geese is a cool thing. The best way is to educate the public so people make solid informed decisions on what they choose to eat.