Foie Gras (Episode #544)

Hi Kaeleku,

Thanks for your input.

I basically agree that any kind of killing is going to cause suffering. While not a vegetarian myself, I do however watch closely what kind of meat I buy -- not much in the first place, and only from free range animals.

However, I consider this a bit of a dangerous argument because it tends to relativize and make people think "Oh, whatever. There's nothing we can do anyway except turn vegetarian, so we might as well keep on doing whatever we feel like doing."

But there IS something anyone can do with ease, and no one has to turn vegetarian to do it. If you're going to eat meat, you DO have the option of choosing meat that has been produced with a minimum amount of cruelty. I am not going to go further into that, and I didn't mean to start a general discussion about the political correctness of eating meat.

The point I wanted to make here is specifically about foie gras, because this is produced with an absolute maximum of suffering. And IMO there's no excuse - tradition, taste, or whatever - to condone or support that.

Anna, I agree with you. I do not or will not eat Foie Gras. For the same reason I don’t eat veal or lamb. I wish Rick had mentioned the process by which Foie Gras is made, but it’s his show.

Anna, as a long time participant in the Rick Steves Forums, you likely know that posts here are read and written to by fellow travelers, listeners and watchers.

Rick Steves does not participate here - unless under a pseudonym - and I've never heard of that in very many years here.

Your appeals to him in your post will unfortunately never reach his ears.

If you want to get a message to the staff, and eventually perhaps to him, the way is with the Contact Us buttons. Staffers get messages sent that way.

You might want to take such things into consideration when traveling. Belgium, Romania, Spain, France and Hungary are particularly significant no-nos (the only countries still producing foie gras in any significant quantity).

The more duck and goose friendly countries (where production is illegal, in whole or in part) are Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway and Poland,

I have been told, but I don't know if its true, that Hungary has the highest per capita consumption rate in Europe. That would explain why down duvets and down pillows are so common and relatively inexpensive in Hungary. If you were to find yourself in Hungary, one of the common local dishes is a foie gras terrine with sweet Tokaji wine jelly on it. Really very good. The locals also love roasted foie gras served cold in its own lard with onions. But thats too hard core for me.

You will find a lot of canned foie gras in the tourist markets, but I get the impression that its fairly low quality. To be sure you are getting the best, you need to go to a good restaurant or one of the many fresh markets.

Another food product you might take issue with is Caviar. Again, very popular in Hungary. I have always been a bit hesitant to purchase it. You see so much in the tourist markets, but there is no way of knowing how old it is. It appears that most of it comes from areas in the old Soviet Union and I suspect there isn't much conservation going on so I avoid it for that reason too. I do know one shop in town that has some very good Israeli farm raised Ossetra

Thanks for your comments and opinions!

@Nigel: Thanks for pointing that out. I was in fact aware of it.

I would however expect that someone from his staff keeps a bit of an eye on the forum, if only to keep illegal or unwanted content out. And I would expect them to be at least a little bit interested in direct reactions to the show. A critical comment like this one might give them food for thought at least.

However, it's also the listeners of his show who should be aware of this. And those are here in this forum. They would never hear of this if I used the contact form.

@James: No offense, but this is not about good or bad quality foie gras. I really don't care in the least if it is good or bad quality. The horrible suffering the animal has gone through is the same either way.

As far as the other countries - including my own - are concerned, I am afraid there is a bit of duplicity. We declare the production to be illegal, but it's not illegal to buy or sell the stuff.

There is a gentleman in Spain that has received a lot of notariaty by fattening up the goose liver by natural methods, no force feeding. The geese and duck are even very close to the equivalent of "free range". B. H. Obama even paid him a visit. That could be a solution. Seems to me it might enhance the quality too. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Kaeleku, you live! Good to see you back.

Forgive me if I'm mistaken - but, right or wrong, didn't Rick show how the geese were force fed at a farm meant to produce fois gras in a past episode?

yes he did