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Monday, January 16, 2006
Lawmaker wants to take foie gras off the table
OLYMPIA -- For bird sympathizers concerned about the practice of force-feeding, a trip to a swanky French restaurant may soon become easier to swallow.
Rep. Brendan Williams, D-Olympia, has proposed a measure that would ban the process of harvesting bloated livers -- known as foie gras, or "fatty liver" -- and would ultimately remove the delicacy from state restaurants.
It can be difficult to stomach the method used to make this delicacy. A few times each day, waterfowl are force-fed high-energy food -- usually corn -- through a long tube attached to a pressurized pump.
The process can balloon a liver to 10 times the normal size -- a swelling that often can be deadly.
"Torturing an animal to make it tastier is not a proposition I support," Williams said. "There has to be some limitations on decadence when it comes to what we eat or what we do to animals."
No farms in Washington produce foie gras, although most French restaurants provide the indulgence on the menu.
"Banning the production immediately is proactive and won't disrupt any practices of farmers," Williams said. Restaurants would have until 2012 to remove the item from their menu.
Wilfried Boutillier, manager of Maximilien restaurant at Pike Place Market in Seattle, said his honey-seared foie gras, served with sweet onions, is extremely popular among patrons.
Also a chef, Boutillier is well aware of the controversy surrounding his $16 appetizer, imported from New York, Canada and France. In November, a group of protesters wearing duck hats demonstrated in front of his restaurant.
"It's probably not pleasant for the ducks, but it's probably not pleasant for a chicken to be slaughtered," Boutillier said. "I kind of feel like if we listen to these people, we'll probably all be vegetarians."
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