Festive ‘delicacy’ more than we can stomach

ALL this month, in the lead-up to Christmas, people who wouldn’t dream of eating foie gras between January and November find it on a festive menu and, keen to try something ‘posh’, send in their order.

Few will know that by doing so, they are supporting a scandalous food practice.

The methods used to turn duck and goose livers into the delicacy known as pâté de fois gras are anything but delicate. Foie gras is a French term meaning ‘fatty liver’ and it is produced by force-feeding birds abnormally large amounts of high-protein food — usually corn.

The common method used to feed the caged or penned birds is via a 12 to 16-inch plastic or metal tube, shoved down their throats and attached to a pressurised pump.

The force-feeding may be performed twice daily for up to two weeks for ducks and three to four times daily for up to four weeks for geese. Force-feeding causes the liver to increase in size about six to 10 times compared to the size of a normal bird.

This is how foie gras is produced. Few consumers would consider this practice acceptable.

The next time you see fois gras on a menu, you might let the manager know that a product that comes from force-feeding ducks and geese is more than you can stomach.

Gerry Boland

Keadue

Co Roscommon