Should Foie Gras Be Banned In The United States?

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oie: without a doubt one of the world’s most infamous delicacies. Foie gras was made popular in Alsace, France by Jean-Pierre Clause. It was so widely popular, peasants and King Louis XIV ate it. After doing so well in France, foie gras expanded throughout Europe then to the world (Strang). Foie gras, translated from French, is fatty liver, normally from geese. This debatable delicacy is served either room temperature or chilled, eaten alone or on top of lettuce or spinach. However, the presentation of the dish is not where the controversy is held. The controversy begins with the production of the foie. I believe the production of foie gras through force-feeding geese should be banned in the United States, because it is immorally cruel to the …show more content…

In 1999, Israel’s foie gras industry was the fourth largest in the world. Then, an animal protection organization known as “Noah” petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel to outlaw the force-feeding of geese for foie gras. During the case, Justice Asher Grunis argued that “animals should serve the needs of men” (Sullivan). Grunis explains that geese are not morally equal to humans. Israel should recognize that animals are property, and the owner’s rights to their property should not be limited. He acknowledges the suffering of the geese by arguing that there is no way to assess their pain. Later, Grunis compares the overcrowding and force-feeding of the geese to the industrial farming system in the United States of America. “Traditional agriculture has disappeared. It has been replaced by enormous farms, where animals are raised in harsh conditions. Thousands of chickens are crowded together in cages; calves are kept in extremely narrow stalls” (Sullivan). Grunis argues that these conditions are not a problem in the United States of America, and should not be a problem in Israel either.
On the contrary, Justice Tovah Strasberg-Cohen of Israel stated, “Any use of animals as means of improves man’s welfare is morally dubious” (Sullivan). Strasberg-Cohen emphasizes animal welfare and she deemed foie gras as a luxury food item, not a necessity. Convinced by Strasberg-Cohen,

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