I've just begged our Tone to ban fois gras.... please please Tony. Please use your power to stop this abuse... and if he doesn't? What does that make him?
I've just begged our Tone to ban fois gras.... please please Tony. Please use your power to stop this abuse... and if he doesn't? What does that make him?
I would answer that but unfortunately the answer is a very bad word so instead I shall say I have signed it too (still waiting for the confirmation e-mail tho'!)
Blackadder: Baldrick, have you no idea what irony is?
Baldrick: Yes, it's like goldy and bronzy only it's made out of iron.
York City councillor, Paul Blanchard (who recently tried to get the inhumane 'delicacy' of foie gras banned in the City of York), now has a petition and website to demand a UK ban on the sale of foie gras.
Foie gras is the liver of force-fed ducks and geese. To produce it, at 12 weeks old the birds are restrained and grain is forced down the throat through a pipe, a process that often results in physical injury. A massive quantity of food is forced into the birds, so that their livers are swollen to 6-10 times normal size; which makes movement and breathing difficult, as well as causing other health problems. EU research shows that force feeding leads to severe liver damage, great pain, and high mortality rates.The force-feeding of geese is already explicitly outlawed in many countries. UK law is inconsistent: existing animal cruelty laws prohibit production in the UK; but as the sale is still permitted, birds still suffer to satisfy UK demand, albeit in other countries, as the foie gras is imported.
That this House notes that in order to produce the food delicacy foie gras, 12 week old ducks and geese are restrained and grain is forced down the throat through a gavage pipe, a process that often results in physical injury; observes that a massive quantity of food is forced into the birds causing their livers to swell to six to 10 times normal size, making movement and breathing difficult, and leading to severe liver damage, great pain, and high mortality rates; further notes that existing UK animal welfare laws prohibit such cruel farming methods; considers that a prohibition on the sale of foie gras in the UK would be compatible with the EC Treaty and the rules of the World Trade Organisation both of which permit restrictions on grounds of public morality; applauds the efforts of the website www.banfoiegras.org.uk to educate and encourage members of the public to press for foie gras to be banned; and calls upon the Government to prohibit the sale of foie gras in the UK.
Well, i've had the response from our wonderful government. And because they believe that a ban on foie gras will contravene the Treaty of Rome (trade liberalism) they're not going to risk getting themselves sued on such an unworthwhile cause. They're apparently satisfied with potential welfare improvements.
The line from Ben Bradshaw (our animal welfare tsar) is that people should boycott foie gras... well most people already do, unfortunately that won't shut the industry down.
Hi Kev, can you e:mail me your response so I can pass it on to Paul Blanchard please, thanks.
Kevster
Well, i've had the response from our wonderful government. And because they believe that a ban on foie gras will contravene the Treaty of Rome (trade liberalism) they're not going to risk getting themselves sued on such an unworthwhile cause. They're apparently satisfied with potential welfare improvements.
The line from Ben Bradshaw (our animal welfare tsar) is that people should boycott foie gras... well most people already do, unfortunately that won't shut the industry down.
Re: Do you belong to a vegan related organisation/charity?
I emailed this email to the uk Minister for Animal Health and Welfare:
Hello, I am a caring consumer and I am emailing to raise the attentionof the production of a animal product caled foi gras. I am sure you are aware of this issue and I strongly despise the cruel practices employed to produce this so called delicacy.
Several other countries in the eu have passed laws concerning this cruel animal practice, even california has too. And the uk, as a country that touts itself as a forerunner as a civilized and educated country should put an end at once to the legalization of such a cruel animal product.
If there's any doubt in your mind of how cruel and painful a method it is, I invite you to take a look at footage of ducks being painfully forcefed the human equivalent of 28 pounds of grain a day to a human.
Thank you for signing the epetition calling for the Government to ban the sale of foie gras. The Government recognises that there is widespread public concern over this and has repeatedly made clear its views that the production of foie gras using force feeding gives rise to serious welfare concerns.
But an unilateral ban on welfare grounds would not be legal. World trade rules prevent a ban on imports simply on the grounds of welfare standards in producer countries. Similarly, the rules governing the of the European Union require member states to allow the free circulation of goods. Any unilateral ban would lead to proceedings before the European Court.
These rules, from which our country benefits enormously, are in place to encourage free trade and prevent unfair barriers to imports being put in place. O)bviously, however, they also constrain the behaviour of individual countries.
The best way for the Government to improve animal welfare standards is to give a lead at home and internationally. The Government has improved animal welfare standards in the UK which were already among the highest in the world. We have also been active both on a European and international level in trying to raise standards overall. We will continue to do so.
The most effective action for individuals who dislike the way foie gras is produced, of course, is not to buy it which is a position taken by many people in this country.
We have now launched our online petition to ban foie gras in York, which will be presented, alongside our paper petion which we will be using at stalls, to York Council on Oct 4th when they next vote on the sale of Foie Gras.
Sign the petition, and email it to all your friends, send it to as many people as possible, the more signatures we have before the council meeting on Oct 4th, the more chance we have of getting the council to vote against foie gras.
'Harvey Nichols to ban foie gras before protests
By Martin Hickman
Published: 03 August 2007
Harvey Nichols, the department store chain that is a favourite with well-heeled foodies and fashionistas, is halting the sale of foie gras in advance of a planned national protest from an animal rights group.
The chain said that for "commercial" reasons it would no longer stock French foie gras after existing supplies ran out in coming weeks.
Animal rights groups welcomed the move, which brings the company in line with others who avoid stocking foie gras, because of the way it is produced.
The group Viva! had been planning to launch nationwide action against Harvey Nichols during the peak Christmas shopping season and had recently informed the store of its intentions.
This summer, protesters from the Bristol-based group have demonstrated outside branches of Harvey Nichols in Manchester and Edinburgh carrying placards with pictures of goslings with the slogan "torture victims". The Manchester protest occurred in the past fortnight.
Harvey Nichols, which has its flagship store in Knightsbridge and branches in Birmingham, Leeds and Dublin, sells 200g tins of foie gras for £10.95 as well as fresh foie gras at its delicatessen counters.
A spokeswoman for the chain said: "We reviewed the foie gras policy in the food market and it's been a commercial decision to stop buying foie gras."
Justin Kerswell, a Viva! campaigner, said: "We are absolutely delightedthat Harvey Nichols are taking this decision. The fact they say sales are dropping I think is indicative of the fact that the British public is going to go foie-gras free."
Producing foie gras in the UK is banned. Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Co-op do not stock the food for ethical reasons.'
Foie gras is the product of torture, say protesters
Foie gras could be banned from all council buildings in Bolton if a motion raised later is met with approval.
Liberal Democrat Richard Silvester has tabled the motion, saying the use of livers from force-fed ducks is cruel.
The motion, to be raised on Wednesday night at a full council meeting, also proposes discouraging the sale of the pate at any shops in the borough.
Councillors in York voted almost unanimously in favour of opposing the sale of foie gras earlier this month.
The French delicacy is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers swell to six to 10 times their normal size.
Pneumatic pumps are used to force quantities of food into the birds, which animal welfare groups say is cruel.'
The city council could become the second in the UK to ban the sale of foie gras, with calls for shops, restaurants and authorities to stop selling the bird liver because it is deemed cruel.
The Green Party has put forward a motion to ensure the product is not available in any council services and to discourage Norwich eateries to stop serving it.
If successful, Norwich will follow York City Council, which last month passed a motion condemning the sale of foie gras. The move was welcomed by animal rights campaigners and it intensified pressure for a national ban on the fatty liver, which is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers become enlarged. [...]'
I was informed by a friend who recently had dinner at Marcus Wareing's restaurant in Knightsbridge, Petrus, that they have both foie-gras and veal on the menu. Unsurprisingly the restaurant is supported by Gordon Ramsey.
I have written to explain about the cruelty of the production of both and have requested that they be taken off the menu (and said that I won't be eating there whilst they remain on the menu - not that I was ever going to anyway - but you know ) I don't know if it will make any difference but worth a try of course.
If you would like to write yourself the details are:
Marcus Wareing
Petrus Restaurant
The Berkeley
Wilton Place
Knightsbridge
London
SW1X 7RL
(Admin - I am not sure if this is in the right place? )
"Only after the last tree has been cut down,the last fish caught [and] the last river poisoned;only then will you realise that money cannot be eaten"
IT may be a delicacy to some, but foie gras is off the menu in Stockport - in a move that might have pleased James Bond.
The pate is made from the livers of ducks and geese force fed huge quantities of grain and fat through tubes placed down their throats. Stockport council has branded the practice as 'intolerably cruel and painful'. And now it has banned the sale of foie gras from all its premises.
Actor Sir Roger Moore, a former James Bond, used to enjoy foie gras. But when he learned about how it is produced he vowed never to eat it again and volunteered to narrate a documentary about what happens to the ducks and geese.
Coun Ken Holt said he was particularly keen to raise the issue in Stockport in the run-up to Christmas, when shoppers may be thinking of buying it. He said: "I am not a vegetarian - but quite simply I don't think any reasonable person could disagree with my stance on animal welfare. If you are going to dispatch an animal it needs to be done quickly and humanely.
"Appalling cruelty is involved in producing foie gras."
Review
Now the council will write to the government to express concern about the sale of foie gras and to demand a review of government policies on animal welfare.
Coun Peter Scott, leader of the Labour group, hopes the move by the council will influence decisions at national level.
In October Bolton council voted unanimously to ban foie gras from all in-house functions and events.
'Vegetarian aristocrats and their campaign against the cruelty of Selfridges' foie gras
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
A campaigning vegetarian duke and duchess are leading an aristocratic revolt against the department store Selfridges from within the walls of a 14th-century ancestral home in Scotland. [...]'
BLUE-blooded animal rights campaigners the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton today stepped up their war with Selfridges over the sale of foie gras.
The couple, who live in their 14th century home at Lennoxlove, East Lothian, wrote to the company urging it to stop selling the luxury, made from the fattened livers of ducks and geese.
Selfridges chief executive Paul Kelly replied saying that the store had tried to bring in "welfare-friendly" foie gras from Spain.
But today the Duchess wrote to the firm again, urging them to stop selling the "immoral" product outright.
In her letter, she wrote: "You do not get accolades for promising to one day sell something 'humane' if you intend to continue selling something that is grossly inhumane at the same time.
"May I please hear from you that you will remove all foie gras from your shelves?"
Re: foie gras
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Kevster
) I don't know if it will make any difference but worth a try of course.
)
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