Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008 | Foie gras is a dish served at a handful of San Diego “gourmet” restaurants. It is derived by force-feeding ducks or geese up to four pounds of corn mush a day. Some ducks die during the violent force-feeding process, which involves farmers shoving long metal poles down the animals’ throats three times a day.
Recent investigations of two foie gras farms in the United States found birds on the verge of death, covered in their own vomit and crammed in filthy, feces-ridden cages. Some ducks die of organ rupture or choke to death during the force-feeding process when the metal rod rips open their throats. The production of foie gras literally requires farmers to cause the healthy liver of ducks to become diseased.
I’m urging San Diegans to take a stand against foie gras like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did when he signed a law that will make it illegal to force feed ducks and geese. Please do not patronize restaurants that continue to serve this cruel product.