Vegetarian Star

On his blog, president and CEO of the Humane Society,Wayne Pacelle, is declaring victory over foie gras supplier Hudson Valley Foie Gras.

A federal judge in New York ruled in favor of the HSUS in a water pollution lawsuit against Hudson Valley.

The judged ruled Hudson Valley violated the Clean Water Act numerous times and in several ways and HVFG will have to pay $25,000 per day per each future violation.

In addition, HVFG must pay $50,000 towards an environmental project to the Middle Mongaup River–where all of its toxic mess ended up!

“Factory farming interests like to claim that they represent rural people and rural values, but that’s a canard,” writes Pacelle. “Rural people increasingly are in the forefront of the movement against factory farms, since they often experience the problems most acutely, especially the downstream environmental effects.”

HVFG has violated animals, humans and the earth.

Thanks goodness they’re finally paying up!

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The Animal Protection & Rescue League has organized a protest against celebrity chef Thomas Keller outside his three restaurants because he serves foie gras.

Several other animal rights groups, Animal Protection & Rescue League, Orange County People for Animals, In Defense of Animals, and Compassion Over Killing have launched a campaign about foie gras and will be outside Keller’s restaurants holding banners depicting the conditions inside Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Keller’s supplier.

Foie gras is produced by force feeding geese so much their livers swell several times their normal sizes.

The metal pipes placed in their throats for feeding often injure the digestive tract as well.

“As a veterinarian, I find foie gras to be a disease rather than a delicacy,” states Elliot Katz, DVM, President of IDA. “The liver’s function is to process toxins, and a liver in this grossly enlarged state from force feeding cannot function properly.”

The protests will be held at the following restaurants on Saturday, May 8.

Per Se, 10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019 – Time: noon
Bouchon, 235 N. Canon Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90210 – Time: 7:30pm
French Laundry, 6640 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599 – Time 7pm

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Charles Haynes on Flickr

Chef Michael Ginor of Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York and author of Foie Gras: A Passion is weighing in on PETA’s The Fine Faux Gras Challenge appears to have a Gordon Ramsay split personality when it comes to creating a vegetarian version of foie gras and the challenge presented by PETA for chefs to do so.

He thinks it’s a great idea. But no serious chef would do it. It provides another option. But chefs aren’t supposed to make substitutions. An excerpt from The National Post:

I think it’s great. People should always have alternatives. I also think it’s ridiculous in a sense, because you can find substitutes for steak. It’s another vegetarian thing. It’s not going to be foie gras, it’s obviously another PR campaign to try and get people to not eat foie gras. They’re not going to find an alternative to foie gras because there just isn’t one.

Ginor then went on to say that he hasn’t been asked to enter the competition and “no serious high end chef would want to do this.”

No, a faux foie gras chef isn’t a hardcore chef. And chefs have better things to do.

Before you know it, there will be a substitution for quail, a substitution for squab and a substitution for steak. That’s not the point of a restaurant.

We already have substitutes for steak, chicken, pork, and the like. And what’s even more ridiculous is that these are served in restaurants. And prepared by chefs! Not only in vegetarian restaurants, but other dining establishments who recognize the growing number of vegetarians (an estimated 5.7 million U.S. adults in 2000-FindArticles – How many vegetarians are there? A 2003 national Harris Interactive survey question sponsored by The Vegetarian Resource Group
Vegetarian Journal, May-June, 2003) and growing.

Looking forward to hearing his response when he tries the winner’s faux foie gras. We’re sure it will probably be something along the lines of “It tastes the same, but no serious chef should ever admit it.”

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