http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2312545&page=1

I would be gutted if I lived in Chicago.

Fois Gras is great.

Unlucky, Chicagoans. You have my pity.

About fucking time this ban came into force. I was just telling a friend the other day how SICK I am of people getting out their grubby fois gras and pounding their faces with that shit while I'm trying to have a quiet drink.

It's gross, and I reserve my right not to be part of it in my everyday life. Good riddance. I can only hope the rest of the world follows suit soon.

Nico Adie wrote:http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2312545&page=1

I would be gutted if I lived in Chicago.

Fois Gras is great.

Unlucky, Chicagoans. You have my pity.

The guilt-to-enjoyment ratio is simply too high, in my opinion. It does taste very nice, but is it right that geese have to be put through what they are in order for it to end up on our plates?

I remember when a friend got me an upgrade to first class on BA once for a 10-hour flight.

I was overwhelmed with the level of decadence given that I was on a plane and cannot afford economy plus. I was a fish out of water. I ordered the steak with fois gras, completely forgetting what fois gras was.

Placing the first piece in my mouth, I instantly removed it, remembering what it was I was about to eat. the steak was delicious; the fois gras was left uneaten.

I still kind of feel guilty about this. Fois gras is bad enough, but ordering it and then leaving it is awful. Perhaps I was suited to first class after all.

BadComrade wrote:Hot Doug's still has it. Today, one of the specials:

"Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Green Apple Mustard and White Truffle Cheese"

Shhhhhhhhhhhh.

We were talking about this at work and someone hypothesized that they may be able to sell what they still have but not obtain more.

In other news...he got more Cincinatti Skyline Chili in and it is delicious.

I understand the process of foie gras making can upset people but to ban things seems to be an American habit these days.

Wasn't it enough to communicate about how foie gras is made and let people decide by themselves if they want to eat any or not?
Obviously, knowing that, there are persons (like SpankMarvin) who wouldn't eat foie gras and it'd be their own decision.

It's like the smoking ban. Why not let the bartenders decide to make their place smoke free or not, and let people decide if they want to go to a smoke free place or somewhere smoking is permitted?

Chicagoans, don't you feel like someone is stealing a part of your individual freedom?

And shouldn't Nike be banned then because their shoes are made by 10 years old kids working 12 hours a day in Asia?

I'm all about the smoking ban and big government intruding into your life and blah blah blah, but this seems like they're overdoing it.

I did read in one of your papers that there is a product called "Faux Gras" that is made from brutally mistreated chickens, not geese. That should be fine, right? Eat up!

(Trivia: one of the chefs who developed the Faux Gras is surnamed "Gras". Weird!)

Sly Bug wrote:I understand the process of foie gras making can upset people but to ban things seems to be an American habit these days.

Wasn't it enough to communicate about how foie gras is made and let people decide by themselves if they want to eat any or not?
Obviously, knowing that, there are persons (like SpankMarvin) who wouldn't eat foie gras and it'd be their own decision.

It's like the smoking ban. Why not let the bartenders decide to make their place smoke free or not, and let people decide if they want to go to a smoke free place or somewhere smoking is permitted?

Chicagoans, don't you feel like someone is stealing a part of your individual freedom?

And shouldn't Nike be banned then because their shoes are made by 10 years old kids working 12 hours a day in Asia?

Well done Sly!!!!

Unless Chicago is going to also ban industrialised meat-rearing, it seems like foie gras is a strange focus.

I wouldn't eat foie gras, but then I don't eat meat that isn't free range. I don't really see foie gras as involving greater cruelty than (other) intensive meat-rearing.

In fact, the best French foie grass uses free range geese who are encouraged to habitually grossly over-eat, rather than physically forced (still cruel, obviously) and thus I would argue that the best foie gras involves significantly less cruelty than battery-farmed chickens, or barn-reared ducks, or intensively-reared cows or whatever.

Adam, they are physically forced. I used to work for a company that campaigned about this issue among many others and I've seen plenty of clandestine photographs taken in French fois gras producing farms. The goose is held firmly while a funnel is inserted deep into its throat and grain is poured in, forcing the bird to swallow.