Memoir of a Rojak Gal: What I didn't know about Foie Gras

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

What I didn't know about Foie Gras

Today I was happily reading some food blogs on fancy fine dining restaurants and I thought I want to try out foie gras which is a popular, and expensive French delicacy.
I don't think I have tried it before, or maybe I had long time ago but I don't remember.

Then, I came upon a blog which point out the cruelty of farming foie gras. Basically, foie gras is a diseased (read diseased) and enlarged liver of a duck or goose, produced through force feeding. To qualify as foie gras, the poor duck's liver has to be enlarged to a minimum of 300 grams, which is 6 times the size of a healthy duck's liver. Sometimes, the duck's liver is even enlarged to 10 times their natural size.

How do they do that?

Here's what the force-feeder does, everyday for 2-3 times, they will grab the poor and helpless bird, shoves a long, thick tube all the way down his throat and pumps in large amount of food into his system. Each feeding is about 0.45 kilo which should be almost the portion of my heavy dinner, I think. But god, this is a duck which is 1/10 my weight? As if this is not cruel enough, they will add in OIL and water which doubles the food weight mentioned, making it 20-30% of the bird's body weight.

Now imagine if I stuff you with 10kgs of dry corn + water for 3 times/day (assuming if you are 50 kgs, if you are heavier, your portion would have to increase)

and I thought eating shark fin is cruel, but this 100x worst.

Ladies & gentlemen, here's the picture of healthy duck liver and a foie gras. See the big difference? Imagine how the bird would have suffered. Needless to say, a LOT of birds dies over this process.