Chicago Foi Gras Ban Repealed

[Adrian Laguna]

This article isn't important, even to those inside Chicago it wasn't a big issue (for reasons detailed in the article). I'm posting it because it summarizes the whole story of the ban, which is a) amusing, and b) possibly has a lesson somewhere in there.

I've highlighted some interesting parts.

Hold the jokes the rest of yous: Foie gras back on menus

By Phil Vettel
May 18, 2008

This fight was never about the foie gras.

Last week, the Chicago City Council repealed its foie gras ban. Chefs hailed the action as a victory for personal choice and a repudiation of the nanny state. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called it a craven capitulation to special interests. And Ald. Joe Moore (49th), who sponsored the 2006 ban, called it an outrageous display of old-time Boss politics.

I think the ban was repealed because people were laughing at us.

But most chefs I spoke to expressed unconcern with foie gras, per se. Their objection--and this was voiced by chefs who rarely if ever served foie gras--was that the City Council was telling them what they could and could not cook. Chefs wondered aloud what might be next--veal? lobster?--on the City Council's list of Thou Shalt Nots.

One way to galvanize an artistic community--and make no mistake, Chicago's fine-dining chefs qualify--is to whisper the word censorship. Or, in the case of the foie gras ban, to practically scream it.

And one way to drum up interest in an item is to tell the people they can't have it.

In the four months in 2006 between the date the foie gras ban was passed (April 26) and when it went into effect (Aug. 22), restaurants reported a surge in foie gras sales. Whether liver-loving Chicagoans were loading up on a dish that was about to disappear, or curious diners were ordering the dish to see what the fuss was about, restaurants such as Cyrano's Bistrot & Wine Bar claimed to be selling foie gras like never before. Chefs organizing legal challenges to the ordinance hosted well-attended foie gras fundraisers.

And then the ban went into effect, and things really got silly.

Restaurant owners--and the customers who supported them--wasted no time finding creative ways around the law. I had an especially luscious "chicken liver terrine" at Cyrano's, har-de-har-har. Copperblue managed to source duck liver that tasted suspiciously wonderful; the owner maintained that it had come from naturally fed ducks, and who was qualified to dispute it?

(Here's a hint: A 6-pound duck will not produce a 2-pound liver without outside assistance.)

Bin 36 offered a premium-priced salad of figs, apricots and honey, "and the foie gras torchon is on us." That's what the menu said. The restaurant wasn't selling foie gras, it was selling a salad and giving away the liver.

When the Health Department inspectors arrived at Bin 36 and decided that this transparent bit of legerdemain passed muster, declining to issue a citation, the battle was over. Basically, anyone who wanted to serve foie gras did so.

Not that I blame the Health Department. When your main mission is to prevent food-borne illness, how much time do you want to spend rounding up duck-liver scofflaws, especially when your boss' boss' boss (that would be the mayor) has publicly decried the City Council's action as "the silliest thing they've ever done"?

So foie gras became a banned substance that was readily available to anyone who wanted it, abetted by an agency that had little time, or appetite, for enforcement.

And to be honest, that's really where I expected matters to rest. I predicted that this "don't ask, don't tell" status would remain for the foreseeable future. It allowed the animal-rights people their victory and let the City Council claim the high road while inconveniencing a few chefs just a bit (and foie gras-seeking customers not at all).

What I didn't fully appreciate is how embarrassing this ordinance was for certain city leaders, and how badly they wanted it to go away.

Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) quickly recanted his support of the ban, saying, "Anybody who has traveled anywhere in this country knows that people are just laughing their heads off at us."

The foie gras ban became a joke on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." TV food personality and author Anthony Bourdain, never at a loss for a cutting comment, said in an interview that the ban made Chicago look like "some stupid cow town."

And a city trying to become an Olympic destination doesn't want to look like a stupid cow town.

If ever the aldermen truly supported the ethical issues of foie gras production, and I suspect that support was weak at best, it quickly disappeared in a flurry of snickers (not the candy bar). Some aldermen claimed not to have realized what they were voting for back in 2006. (Which is very likely true; omnibus bills typically contain routine matters and aldermen rarely give them a second glance.)

Chicago Chefs for Choice, an ad hoc organization opposed to the ban, provided a couple of experts to rebut the claims that force-feeding (which is how duck and goose livers become engorged) was cruel and painful, and that was all the convincing some aldermen needed.

So Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) crafted a repeal, and Wednesday the mayor--over Moore's loud and repeated demands for discussion and debate--brought it immediately to a vote.

The vote to repeal was 37-6.

Chicago's foie gras law--dubious in its support, sporadic in its enforcement and mocked by a nation--died almost as quickly as it was passed.

And if there's a lesson here, it's that you don't get rid of something you don't like by banning it.

You tax it.

I love the part where Prince Daley just declares that there won't be any discussion, and there isn't, it goes straight to vote. The guy is awesome.

[Rogue 9]

Wow. I'm sorry, I'm just sitting here laughing my ass off at the ways they were getting around it. That's classic.

[Superman]

Cruel or not, what I want to know is who the fuck eats that shit?

[Qwerty 42]

Cruel or not, what I want to know is who the fuck eats that shit?

Beats me.

I don't know where my copy is at the moment, but there were a number of jokes about foie gras in Mostly Harmless.

[Molyneux]

Cruel or not, what I want to know is who the fuck eats that shit?

Chopped beef liver, at least, can be delicious.
But yeah, you just fucking shouldn't eat foie gras. It's not a good food.

[Sidewinder]

Before someone compares the foie gras ban to the War On Drugs, please provide evidence that foie gras eaters can become addicted, suffer from withdrawal syndromes when denied it, can die VERY QUICKLY from overdosing on it, or are willing to commit crimes to pay for their "addiction."

[Broomstick]

Cruel or not, what I want to know is who the fuck eats that shit?

Pretentious assholes and people with too much money.

I've never had an opportunity to try it (when I was in France I opted to try escargot - missed out on the horsemeat, too). If you put it in front of me I'd at least try it. On the other hand, it's expensive and there are so many things that are good to eat that are cheaper I'm unlikely to get around to it.

The "Joe Moore" referred to in the article who wanted discussion on the appeal is Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th Ward - where I used to live. He succeeded David Orr when Orr became County Clerk (which is how David Orr's name got onto my marriage certificate, by the way). Orr had some usefulness as an alderman, but Moore was just a self-serving asshole as far as I could tell.

He's right - the lack of discussion was old-time Chicago boss politics. Moore, however, is a proponent of the nanny-state, as the foie gras ban demonstrated.

The 49th Ward has no restaurants that would serve foie gras, the residents just don't have the money to support that sort of haute cuisine. It does, however, have several vegetarian restaurants, and some rather rabid animal-rights types. Draw your own conclusions.

(Of course, the PeTA types are also horrified that the 49th Ward also has one of the highest densities of Voudoun practitioners, and a fair number of Santerians, both of whom practice animal sacrifice. The 49th is VERY diverse.)

[Dominus Atheos]

Er...

What the hell is "foie gras"? The article doesn't say. (unless it does and I'm just missing it)

[Broomstick]

Goose liver. Specifically, liver from a goose that has been force-fed to the point it is so obese it can barely stand up or walk. It can also come from a similarly force-fed duck.

[Patrick Degan]

What the fuck is the Chicago city council even doing wasting its time on this bullshit?

[Broomstick]

I believe that is exactly what Mayor Daley said the first time Joe Moore proposed the ban.

[TimothyC]

Cruel or not, what I want to know is who the fuck eats that shit?

RThurmont apparently.

[Gil Hamilton]

Er...

What the hell is "foie gras"? The article doesn't say. (unless it does and I'm just missing it)

The idea behind foie gras is that a goose is kept in confinement and force fed, as Broomstick says, till it is enormously obese (foie gras, I believe, actually means "fattened goose"). The effect of this is that the goose's liver swelled to enormous size, around two pounds, and it is then sold to people with enough money that "violently ill goose liver" is a delicacy rather than something to be avoided.

Naturally, "foie gras" is one of those things that animal rights activists are very actively against, not just because it's an animal being eaten, but an animal deliberately being mistreated in order to put them in an unhealthy physical condition in order to make the "foie gras" possible.

[Hendrake]

Cruel or not, what I want to know is who the fuck eats that shit?

While I know it's pretty bad for health, I like it a lot and when I have money to burn I like to have a piece of it with some good Monbazillac wine.

This also means that I'm getting at most half a can once a year on my birthday, seeing as it's so bloody expansive. Sometimes I can get reasonably-priced decent alternatives, like bloc de canard, but also quite rarely.

I'm an hypocrite, and while I can feel bad for the goose I like the stuff too much nnot to look forward to eating it.

BTW, "foie gras" means "fat liver" and it's implied to be "foie gras d'oie", "fat liver of goose".

[Adrian Laguna]

This also means that I'm getting at most half a can once a year on my birthday, seeing as it's so bloody expansive.

Finally, something I can tell my relatives to get my for my birthday, christmass. It's been years since I wanted anything that wasn't a videogame, which my mother won't let them buy.

[KlavoHunter]

Before someone compares the foie gras ban to the War On Drugs, please provide evidence that foie gras eaters can become addicted, suffer from withdrawal syndromes when denied it, can die VERY QUICKLY from overdosing on it, or are willing to commit crimes to pay for their "addiction."

I'm pretty sure you can die VERY QUICKLY from overdosing on foie gras.

It's just that the OD level is rather significant.

[PeZook]

What is the significant difference between Murderously Obese Goose liver and normal goose liver?

I like fried poultry liver, but I don't see why you need to abuse the goose like that.

[Siege]

What is the significant difference between Murderously Obese Goose liver and normal goose liver?

The livers of morbidly obese geese are bigger, so there's more to enjoy. Well, for those who enjoy foie gras that is... Not so much for the goose.

[Ypoknons]

As a culinary delight it's definitely worth trying at a nice restaurant at least once in your life.

[PeZook]

The livers of morbidly obese geese are bigger, so there's more to enjoy. Well, for those who enjoy foie gras that is... Not so much for the goose.

Somehow, I think there's more difference than that. I can get one kilo of chicken or goose livers for 2.5$ here, while foie gras costs, what? 85$ for 180 grams last I checked. Either it really tastes better, or it's the biggest scam short of diamond marketing.

[Broomstick]

Presumably (those of us who have had it might know more) it tastes different. It's not merely a kilo or two of goose livers. If it was ONLY that it would probably be easier just to kill a couple of normal geese to get it as the force-feeding involve human labor and individual attention to each goose (that's part of the reason it's so expensive). That level of obesity also changes the liver, presumably upping the fat content considerably which would alter both taste and texture.

[Turin]

As someone who does eat and enjoy "that shit" from time to time (in a restaurant setting) I'm delighted to see this sort of waste of time tossed out. Here in Philadelphia there has been some stirrings over a ban, and several restaurants have held "foie nights" specifically to thumb their noses at the PETA people.

Animal-rights activists have gone through the same dishonest motions with this process as they have with everything else they touch. Geese raised for foie spend all but the last couple months of their lives living pretty well for farm animals. The force feeding they experience at the end takes advantage of the animal's natural lack of a gag reflex. And while the animal is (obvious) unhealthily obese during this time, at the end of the time its head is cut off. Geese raised for foie aren't particularly poorly treated, when compared to all the other animals we raise for food.

Which brings up the most important point to me on this issue, which is that the whole foie nonsense is really a "slippery slope" campaign by the PETA retards. Because geese aren't treated much worse (if at all worse) than other food animals, it's an easy step to say "well, you shouldn't be eating meat at all!"

[Ypoknons]

Presumably (those of us who have had it might know more) it tastes different. It's not merely a kilo or two of goose livers. If it was ONLY that it would probably be easier just to kill a couple of normal geese to get it as the force-feeding involve human labor and individual attention to each goose (that's part of the reason it's so expensive). That level of obesity also changes the liver, presumably upping the fat content considerably which would alter both taste and texture.

That's basically it. It's softer, and generally it's cooked with a lot more care than basic liver.

[Ender]

What the fuck is the Chicago city council even doing wasting its time on this bullshit?

Blackhawks, Bears, and Bulls aren't playing, Cubs/Sox rivalry is too tense to bring up in council and still to early in the season so there are no victory celebrations to set up. Olympic committee is still trying to bribe all the necessary people, and Taste of Chicago isn't for another month. Crime is down, local economy isn't too bad (the influx of major businesses here over the past decade is helping), and the only projects that have sufficient funding from IDoT are the ones up here. Frankly this and the proposed location of the new Children's Museum are the only decent issues on their plate - everything else is out of their hands or so small it isn't a concern. Need I remind you that last time this happened they held a meeting about whether the Jerry Springer Show was real or not?

[Aeolus]

Cruel or not, what I want to know is who the fuck eats that shit?

Pretentious assholes and people with too much money.

I've never had an opportunity to try it (when I was in France I opted to try escargot - missed out on the horsemeat, too). If you put it in front of me I'd at least try it. On the other hand, it's expensive and there are so many things that are good to eat that are cheaper I'm unlikely to get around to it.

The "Joe Moore" referred to in the article who wanted discussion on the appeal is Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th Ward - where I used to live. He succeeded David Orr when Orr became County Clerk (which is how David Orr's name got onto my marriage certificate, by the way). Orr had some usefulness as an alderman, but Moore was just a self-serving asshole as far as I could tell.

He's right - the lack of discussion was old-time Chicago boss politics. Moore, however, is a proponent of the nanny-state, as the foie gras ban demonstrated.

The 49th Ward has no restaurants that would serve foie gras, the residents just don't have the money to support that sort of haute cuisine. It does, however, have several vegetarian restaurants, and some rather rabid animal-rights types. Draw your own conclusions.

(Of course, the PeTA types are also horrified that the 49th Ward also has one of the highest densities of Voudoun practitioners, and a fair number of Santerians, both of whom practice animal sacrifice. The 49th is VERY diverse.)

Have you ever had chicken liver? It's really not that different