A farewell to foie gras? There’s a shortage of the fatty favorite in France
Charles Passy - Yesterday 6:53 AM
© Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images
THE MARGIN
Sacre bleu! There’s a foie gras shortage in France.
The fatty, unctuous treat, otherwise known as duck or goose liver, is in short supply throughout the country, according to CNN and other news outlets. The culprit: the bird-flu epidemic that has spread throughout Europe. One report says that France has culled 16 million birds, including ducks, in an effort to curb the disease. And that means far less foie gras to go around.
“This week we got none,” said French chef Pascal Lombard in an interview with CNN. Lombard is the owner of Le 1862, a Michelin-starred restaurant in southwestern France.
Of course, many animal-rights activists might welcome this news. Foie gras has long been a controversial foodstuff, since its production requires the force feeding of ducks or geese (that’s what gets their livers extra fatty). As a result, foie gras has been banned in many places throughout the world. For example, New York City has a ban that’s set to go into effect later this year.
Still, foie gras has its many fans. Marco Moreira, chef and proprietor of Tocqueville, a restaurant in New York, once told the Wall Street Journal that his customers can’t get enough of the stuff.
“Some people will have multiple courses of foie gras,” he said, calling the citywide ban “preposterous.”
Meanwhile, as France contends with the current shortage, Marie-Pierre Pé, who directs a committee of the country’s foie gras producers, told CNN that consumers should think in terms of rationing so that everyone is ensured at least a small taste.
“We have to share with each other,” she said.
Jorge Vargas uses a funneled pipe to force-feed a measured dose of corn mush to a Moulard duck in its pen at Sonoma Foie Gras in Farmington, Calif. A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that limits California's 2012 foie gras ban. The court in San Francisco on Friday, May 6, 2022, declined to overturn a ruling the year before that said individual Californians can order the delicacy from out-of-state producers and have it delivered. However, the product can't be produced in California or sold here by restaurants or other businesses. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)More
Fri, May 6, 2022,
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Californians can buy foie gras produced out of state despite California's ban on the delicacy, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2020 lower court ruling that said Californians can order foie gras from out-of-state producers and have it sent by a third-party delivery service.
The ruling only applies to people who buy foie gras for individual consumption. The 2012 state law still bans foie gras production in California while restaurants and retailers are forbidden to sell it or give it away.
Foie gras is made from the enlarged livers of force-fed ducks and geese. The Humane Society and other groups supported California’s law, arguing the process constituted cruelty to animals.
Producers argued that the force-feeding process mimicked something that happens in the wild, when ducks and geese overeat to store up extra nutrition for their long annual migration.
The law was challenged by producers, including New York-based Hudson Valley Foie Gras, which said it lost nearly one-third of its total sales when the ban took effect.
They argued that the state law conflicts with interstate commerce and federal food regulations that allow force-feeding for foie gras production.
In a 3-0 ruling, the appellate panel upheld the previous ruling but rejected efforts to overturn the entire law.
Ralph Henry, a lawyer for the Humane Society, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the ruling didn't significantly weaken the law.
“Only a narrow form of transaction — a sale by sellers outside the state, shipping to end-use consumers in the state — is still allowed,” he said in an email.
Lawyers for producers said they would ask the appellate court for a new hearing before a large panel.
Chef Sean Chaney told The Chronicle in a statement that while he considers the law unconstitutional, “I’m also glad that 40 million Californians can continue to enjoy the foie gras products they buy online, and I hope to be able to cook it for them soon again.”
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