York City Council Condemns Foie Gras
 |
As of last week, the city of York became the first city in the UK to pass a motion condemning the sale of foie gras on the grounds of cruelty to animals. The City Council, led by Councilor Paul Blanchard, will be writing to hotels and restaurants throughout the city to inform them that the production of foie gras is unethical and cruel in the extreme. Here’s what one of their representatives had to say:
“This is very much a first in the UK. We are the first council to take such a stand and we will be sending out the message loud and clear that York is a foie gras-free zone.”
Unfortunately, this doesn’t amount to an outright ban on foie gras sales in the city, but it’s a hell of a good start. Most of the foie gras in England is imported from France, which has declared the product “part of the cultural and gastronomic patrimony” — a very sophisticated French way of saying “we don’t give a crap about anything”. The good folks in PETA Europe are working hard to push other cities to follow York’s example, so I’ll keep you posted on how that goes, and we’ll see what the French foie gras producers have to say about their ludicrous “gastronomic patrimony” once compassionate people throughout Europe send their sales plummeting.
Congratulations to York and to everyone who helped to work on this campaign!
