Foie gras: the perennial ethical dilemma. Recently, The Guardian published an article about a producer of foie gras that was being prosecuted for animal cruelty - for many, the notion that ‘gavage’, or force feeding, could be seen as anything other than cruel would be quite laughable. But one of the biggest voices in Britain’s culinary scene, Raymond Blanc, tweeted about the subject, urging us to keep perspective and pointing to other cruel production methods in food.
Chef Pascal Aussignac from Gascony, the owner of Michelin Starred Club Gascon, is a proud user of the product, but believes it needs to be treated with respect and sourced in the same way you would when looking for ethically sourced fish, meat, fruits, vegetables and cheese.
Another French-born British industry leader is removing another meat from the menu of his second London restaurant, Grain Store, because he believes the environmental impact of beef farming will have dire consequences for generations to come. The internationally inspired menu only had one dish that featured beef previously, and despite many cattle farms treating our local cows with wide green pastures, Loubet is not one to shy away from making a statement against the consumption of this world-wide staple protein.
Maybe we need more happy-go-lucky geese farmers, like Eduardo Sousa whose fascinating story (which you can read here) paints an idyllic picture of making 'foie gras' - the only problem is, because it doesn't involve gavage, it can't technically hold the supposedly coveted foie gras label!