Good CNN article on foie gras, and the alternate reality its producers live in. The article quotes Ariane Daguin at length, who is the CEO of one leading foie gras producer:
We are the easiest target in the world for a couple of reasons, one our accent, it’s called foie gras, it’s a French word.
Translation: let me start by making the stupidest argument I can possibly make, so anything I say after will seem reasonable by contrast.
Two it’s an organ. It’s easy to say that we don’t need a meat organ to survive or to live.
Easy to say because it’s true.
Three, it’s expensive, so it’s ‘elitist.’
Oh, please. Where are the protests directed towards saffron producers?
And four, it’s so easy for somebody just to take a look at the photo of the funnel inside the esophagus and to say ‘Oh my god, if it were me, it would hurt.’ Well, you are not a duck, so it is not you, you know? But it’s so easy to empathize with the duck.”
Plainly not easy enough for some people.
The remainder of the article is too heavy on quotes from foie gras producers, and too light on quotes from animal advocates. But the piece nevertheless provides some solid background on the issue. (Thanks, Dan.) Link.
