Foie Gras

Foie gras, a French dish that is considered a luxury around the world, is an ancient food that dates back as far as 2500 BC. It is often described as being rich, buttery, and delicate and can be very expensive, averaging about $50 for a pound! It is typically eaten at special occasions such as Christmas or at weddings.

Typically foie gras in France is served cool or cold, since there is a lot of fat in it and it will melt when placed over high heat. It is often layered with other foods to create parfaits or terrines, a sort of shaped loaf (think meatloaf). But as it has spread around the world, other countries, including the United States, have produced recipes using it hot such as in various pasta dishes or as part of a flavored topping with steak.

However, it is actually a very controversial food. French for "fatty liver", foie gras is made out of the enlarged liver of a duck or goose, typically produced by force-feeding the animal corn through a special feeding tube. They must be force-fed because foie gras requires them to eat much more than they normally would.

Many people believe this is animal cruelty and should be stopped, especially considering how frequently it happens: a duck must be force-fed twice a day and a goose requires three force-feedings a day. Some animals develop fears of people from this and have been shown to run away from the farmers at feeding time to avoid being force-fed. There have also been reports of injury to the animals from the feeding tubes themselves.

But there are more ethical ways to produce foie gras. While it cannot be legally called foie gras in France (it must instead be labeled “fatty duck liver” or “fatty goose liver”), there have been many ways people have tried to produce foie gras without resorting to the crueler methods. Some farmers also use methods that are mixes of the two ideas, such as force-feeding but with gentler equipment to avoid injury.

Currently, the arguably “best” way to do produce foie gras is to provide the birds with an overabundance of food and then time the slaughter to match winter migrations, when birds are most likely to overeat naturally in preparation for the long distances they must fly. This enlarges the liver 3-5x its normal size but is still substantially less effective then force-feeding, which enlarges the liver up to 10x its normal size. In addition, this foie gras is even more expensive since it can only be produced once a year.