They don't make foie gras kibble, so The Hound has never had the chance to taste what many consider to be a delicacy. But after a two-year ban on the rich livers made by stuffing feed down the throat of geese and ducks, Chicagoans are free at last to dine on foie gras.
The Chicago City Council, with more than a little prodding from Mayor Richard M. Daley, voted overwhelmingly the other day to ignore the bleatings from the increasingly powerful animal rights lobby and Ald. Joe "Foie Gras" Moore (as hizzoner dubbed the alderman) to allow restaurants to once again serve the dish.
The Hound understands it just wasn't a foie gras-free zone down in the big city. Enforcement of the law was done with a wink and a nod. Like speakeasies of old, those in the know knew the passwords to tony eateries to get their lips around foie gras, French for "fat liver", at between $20 and $25 a pop for a serving about the size of a pack of cigarettes.
The Hound, who has known to chase a few Canada geese at retention ponds around area office parks, always felt If people want to eat goosey foods or they want to eat something they like, they should have the option. Whether it be a fowl's pumped up internal organ or french fries plump with trans fats, it should be the diner's choice. At least in free countries.
The Hound also understands animal rights activists who consider foie gras a cruel dish because geese and ducks are force-fed to make their livers bigger. The Hound wouldn't want to be force-fed. Who wants their livers to be bigger?
So, a Grey Goose toast to Chicago aldermen who finally saw the light and decided, if the 2016 Olympics are headed this way, that foie gras has to be on the menu. After all, the French no doubt will be sending a contingent of Olympians to the Windy City.
I don't understand why humans think they can do anything they want to animals to satisfy their taste buds. Animals feel pain and suffer just as we humans would if we were slaughtered the way they are.. Seriously, like Gandhi said "the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated"-
THE HOUND SEZ: Well, Jane, humans do such things because they're at the top of the food chain. They eat other things for protein to exist. Perhaps you missed a day of class in "Peoples, Food and Culture" at university when that fairly simple explanation was discussed. As for quoting Gandhi, this was a man who drank his own urine in a country where cows wander aimlessly because of religious prohibition.
The Hound has it on good authority that in certain Indian locales, barbecued dog is their protein of choice. The Hound has been told even vegetables feel pain when they are picked to satisfy vegan taste buds.
Wow, you're quite ignorant in your argument Hound. If that's all you have learned about Gandhi and other cultures you need to open your mind a little. By the way, you completely contradict yourself in the 5th paragraph. That's the entire point of animal rights groups and since you can empathize and know you wouldn't want that done to you, how can you still think it's right to do it do an animal? If humans are so far "above" animals in intellect and emotional growth then why would we act so barbaric to torture and kill something or someone who still feels pain and can't defend themselves against us just to satisfy a taste. Shouldn't we as humans demonstrate that we are so far ahead that we can appreciate lower life forms instead of taking advantage of their weaknesses? Would you eat human babies if they tasted good? And you can not argue that foie gras is necessary to eat to survive. If that were true then most of us would be dead.
THE HOUND SEZ: The Hound wondered where all the Flower Children went. Listen, hippie, it doesn't bother the French humans to first, produce geese and ducks with enlarged livers; second, to eat foie gras. It's a free country. Some people actually eat Spam.
I believe there is a difference with humane and inhumane treatment. Even in a free country, as we are, if you want to eat it, then don't turn away from seeing and learning about the horrible process it took to make it edible for us humans. The end product always looks wonderful, but does anyone stop to think about what that animal went through to get on the plate? Or what they may really be eating? I've read enough books on factory farming to know that we are not being fed the quality of meat that we are lead to believe. Maybe you missed the day of class that mentioned that we humans get too much protein in our diet and there are other sources of protein other than rotting flesh.
"Isn't man an amazing animal? He kills wildlife by the millions in order to protect his domestic animals and their feed. Then he kills domestic animals by the billions and eats them. This in turn kills man by the millions, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative and fatal health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer. So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases. Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals. Meanwhile, some people are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who kills so easily and so violently, and once a year sends out cards praying for "Peace on Earth."---C. David Coates "Old MacDonald's Factory Farm"
THE HOUND SAYS: Of course people don't think about what they're eating. If they did, we'd all be vegans. It's like politics in Illinois, as Otto von Bismarck noted: "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made." If you don't like factory farms, buy organic.
Wow nice comeback moron, just what I expected from you though. You don't sound very educated.
THE HOUND SEZ: Gee, Kristen, does one detect an anger issue here? Calling The Hound a "moron" will not pave the way to world peace. Not educated? Sounds like an Obama elitist talking. By the way, The Hound has been to obedience school, which in most states counts as an education. What's your excuse?