So do you like my new drawing? It's not quite as astonishing as I had imagined it, but then life rarely is. I like that the whale looks so happy.
I am happy today. I didn't go to the gym yesterday but I went this morning, and washed my hair, and now I am perky for no real reason. I met up with Em last night after work and we went to Tooting to be threaded at Shilpa's - 99p for eyebrows, it's a joke - and then for dinner at 409 in Clapham. It was nice. We shared foie gras to start, an example of my abject hypocrisy, where I disapprove of it with every cell in my body and yet can't resist it when I see it on a menu. Pathetic.
I was about to move on to another topic, but really, it is pathetic. OK. I'm going to address this. I'm off to Wikipedia....
...Right. Force feeding of birds has been going on since around 2500 BC, where the ancient Egyptians did it. I wonder if Joseph ate foie gras before the famine? I can just see him lying around in his dreamcoat and loin cloth, asking a nubile servant to bring him another tranche.
The Romans were fans, and apparently the emperor Elagabalus fed his dogs on it. That's a bit much, even for me. The last time I had a dog was a decade ago, but I'm pretty sure that if we'd given him pate, he would have been sick as... a dog. Very sick. But then Ernest was always a delicate fellow.
Anyway, back to the present - apparently France produced 18,450 tonnes of foie gras in 2005, which is 78.5% of the world's production. Hungary is the second largest producer. Apparently migratory birds are the best victims because they have a good capacity for weight gain (in preparation for their long journey). OK, this bit's worth pasting in:
"The geese or ducks used in foie gras production are usually kept in a building on straw for the first four weeks, then kept outside for some weeks, feeding on grasses. This phase of the preparation is designed to take advantage of the natural dilation capacity on the esophagus. The birds are then brought inside for gradually longer periods while introduced to a high starch diet. The next feeding phase, which the French call gavage, involves forced daily ingestion of controlled amounts of feed for 12 to 15 days with ducks and for 15 to 18 days with geese. During this phase ducks are usually fed twice daily while geese are fed up to 4 times daily. In order to facilitate handling of ducks during gavage, these birds are typically housed in individual cages or small group pens during this phase...
"The feed is administered using a funnel fitted with a long tube (20–30 cm long), which forces the feed into the animal's esophagus; if an auger is used, the feeding takes about 45 to 60 seconds. Modern systems usually use a tube fed by a pneumatic pump; with such a system the operation time per duck takes about 2 to 3 seconds. During feeding, efforts are made to avoid damaging the bird's esophagus, which could cause injury or death, although researchers have found evidence of inflammation of the walls of the proventriculus after the first session of force-feeding. Several studies have also demonstrated that mortality rates can be significantly elevated during the gavage period...
"Foie gras production has been banned in nations such as some members of the European Union, Turkey, and Israel because of the force-feeding process. Foie gras producers maintain that force feeding ducks and geese is not uncomfortable for the animals nor is it hazardous to their health."
OK. I feel bad about it. But is it worse than buying clothes that are made in sweatshops? I think it's less bad. I think I'd have to give up Primark before I gave up foie gras. And not just Primark. Pretty much shopping on the high street entirely. And, while I love vintage more than the next girl, second hand pants are not going to cut it with me. Then again, not giving up one bad thing because you do something that's even worse is just as pathetic as deliberately staying in denial about it all. So. Come on Jane. What are you going to do? Give it up, or continue to eat it despite knowing how it's made? Meh. I dunno. What do you think?
I'll tell you one thing for nothing. I bet my liver would be fucking delicious.
I fancy a Snickers. Unexpected craving.
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