the cruelty of our food supply: foie gras

This weekend we see a positive sign with regard to the mainstream media's attitude to the cruelty of our food supply. On Saturday, April 2, a Chicago Tribune editorial (the newspaper's official opinion) came down against foie gras. The piece, headed "The foie gras fight" (Pg 22) discusses the dispute over foie gras between two chefs covered in the March 29 front page story (http://tinyurl.com/54a9r ) "Liver and Let Live."
Then it discusses the production of foie gras, and ends with:

"The real nub of the foie gras debate was contained in Tribune reporter Mark Caro's story about the food fight. Caro described the fattening period, in which 'a tube is inserted down the duck's hard esophagus, and a corn meal is released for a couple of seconds, two or three times a day. Foie gras producers note that ducks lack gag reflexes and that waterfowl are designed to digest large portions of food, such as whole fish.'

"The way food gets from field to table often makes for uncomfortable reading, especially in a modern society in which most people have little contact with farms and slaughterhouses. But inhumane treatment of animals should be unacceptable in America. And this does sound inhumane.

"To many palates, foie gras may be delicious. But the way it is produced still turns the stomach."

You can read the whole piece on line at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0504020083apr02,1,1969337.sto
ry OR http://tinyurl.com/4snox

It gives us a great opportunity for appreciative letters that discuss any aspect of "the way food gets from field to table."

The Chicago Tribune takes letters at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-lettertotheeditor.cus
tomform OR http://tinyurl.com/4lsug



(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets.
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