Even when I hear the phrase “foie gras,” I sort of want to throw up. Without even knowing what it means, doesn’t it sound like a puking noise? “Fwwwwwwuuuuhhhh Grah!” I could totally hear myself hurling this phrase as I hurl other contents from my mouth while bent over a toilet.
But in all seriousness, the practice itself is very sickening—much more so than the sound of its name. The phrase, which literally translates to “fatty liver” (that, too, sounds quite appetizing—right up there with bloated eyeballs), is in regards to cooked ducks and geese. While that doesn’t sound any different than a hamburger or a pork steak, the difference is that these birds are tortured live before being cooked; in fact, they have to be tortured to produce the results the chefs intend with the dishes to begin with.
The animals are force-fed huge amounts of fat and grain to fatten them up to create the French “delicacy.” Kept in tiny cages their entire lives without sunlight or room to move, the ducks and geese bred for this purpose have pretty bleak lives. I would definitely not have “Duck or Goose Bred for Foie Gras” on my top ten wish list for reincarnation into the next life.
And why does it continue to be practiced? In short, because some people think it “tastes good.” I’m sorry, but that’s just not a good enough excuse for something so cruel to happen in my book. I sure wouldn’t condone child trafficking because some people think “it’s fun,” or stealing other people’s stuff because some people “could really use a big screen TV/ prescription Vicodin/ a pair of boots/ insert stolen item here.”
It’s cruel. I’d go as far as to call it evil; you might as well if you ever saw it, or pictures/videos of the process, carried out. This practice is considered so cruel that some entire nations, including Denmark, Germany, Italy, and many others, have outlawed it completely. Many other nations have it banned in most or certain areas, including the UK, Sweden, Turkey, the Netherlands, several U.S. cities, and the state of California. It’s even been condemned by the pope himself—and we know what other kinds of stuff he lets slide, so it must be pretty damn awful.
But many areas continue serving the cruel product. Royal Caribbean Cruises, even after being asked from countless customers, is one business that won’t stop serving the dish on its Celebrity Cruises. As the world’s second largest cruise line, the company could really help stop a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering by ceasing the use of foie gras.
If foie gras makes your stomach turn, too, please consider writing Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain today and asking him to stop serving force-fed geese and ducks on his ships.
