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 Foie gras, French for "fatty liver," is a delicacy produced from the
enlarged livers of ducks and geese that have been force-fed corn.
Animal rights groups contend that the force-feeding process is
painful and gruesome. Farmers who raise birds for foie gras defend
their practices as humane.
The New York City Council voted 42-6 to "ban the sale or provision
of certain force-fed poultry products" beginning in 2022, imposing a
fine between $500 and $2,000 for each violation.
"The council is banning a really cruel and inhumane practice," said
Jeremy Unger, spokesman for Council member Carlina Rivera of
Manhattan, who introduced the bill.
The nation's largest maker of foie gras, Hudson Valley Foie Gras,
located in Ferndale, New York, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of
New York City, defended the practice it uses to make the luxury
item.
The other two foie gras makers in the United States are La Belle
Farms, also located in Ferndale, and Au Bon Canard in Caledonia,
Minnesota.
"I can tell you we take proper care of the birds," said Hudson
Valley manager Marcus Henley. He said the farm, which employs 400
people, makes foie gras "in conformity with humane animal management
and in compliance with the laws of the state of New York."
The ban would take effect in three years, in a move meant to give
farmers time to retool their businesses to focus on other products,
Unger said.
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But Henley said New York City represents about a third of his farm's
revenues and rather than planning to adjust its business, he intends
to head to court to seek to overturn it. It was unclear how many
restaurants and groceries would be affected by the ban.
"We don't have an exact number but roughly 1 percent of restaurants
in New York City serve it," Unger said.
Foie gras bans passed elsewhere in the United States have had mixed
results. Chicago's City Council approved a ban in 2006, only to
repeal it two years later after then-Mayor Richard Daley called it
the "silliest ordinance" ever passed in the Windy City, which made
it "the laughingstock of the nation."
California's ban on foie gras went into effect in 2012 and remains
in effect after the U.S. Supreme Court, the nation's highest court,
in January declined to hear an appeal from foie gras producers.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and
Leslie Adler)
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