[487] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
American Airlines and foie gras
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (elsiedee@MIT.EDU)
Mon Apr 10 18:11:31 1995
To: vsg@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 95 18:11:40
From: elsiedee@MIT.EDU
------- Forwarded Message
To: Ar-news <ar-news@cygnus.com>
Cc: Lynn Halpern <halpern@eosdata.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Poultry Press #3
Date: Sun, 2 Apr 1995 21:46:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison <jcolison@CapAccess.org>
From Poultry Press, Winter/Spring 1995, Volume 5, Number 1
United Poultry Concerns
P.O. Box 59367
Potomac, Maryland 20859
301-948-2406
Action Alert: Protest To AmericanAirlines
AmericanAirlines sells "pate de foie gras" in their
International Duty Free catalog. Listed under "Gifts of
Pleasure," foie gras is described as a "noble product" and "magic
word that rings excellent and fine gastronomy perpetuated through
centuries." At the same time, AmericanAirlines writes, "We
absolutely agree that the inhumane handling of any animal species
is unacceptable."
Foie gras--"fat liver--epitomizes the inhumane handling of
an animal species. The "noble product" is a diseased excretory
organ obtained by forcing ducks and geese to consume gross
quantities of fatty food by cranking a metal tube or screw down
their throats and preventing them from vomiting. An eye-witness
investigator in France wrote: "Before cramming, the birds were so
frightened that they huddled together as far away from the farmer
as they could get--pushing themselves against the bars of the
cage in an attempt to escape."
Tell AmericanAirlines to remove foie gras from their Duty
Free catalog and replace it with an elegant vegetarian pate.
Remind them that strong business decisions, such as the banning
of smoking on commercial flights, speed public acceptance of
progressive social attitudes and customs. Contact: Ms. M. F.
White, Executive Office, AmericanAirlines, P.O. Box 619612, MD
2400, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, TX 75261-9612.
--------------------
The goose: "a generous benefactor of mankind"
"From time immemorial the goose has been a generous
benefactor of mankind, giving feathers to lie upon, quills with
which to feather arrows, pens to transfer man's thoughts to
paper, flesh to sustain man's body, fattened livers for the
epicurean, and fat to flavor the peasant's soup and for baking
purposes. . . .
"From early Roman times geese have been especially fattened
to produce greatly enlarged livers. During the first part of the
fattening period the feed is given in troughs, but for some days
before the geese are to be killed they are forcibly fed, a
funnel-like apparatus being used to force the nourishment down
the birds' throats. The forced fattening of geese is depicted on
mural reliefs in one of the tombs at Sakkara (Egypt).
"In France it used to be the custom to fatten geese in
casks, in which holes were bored to allow the fowls to put their
heads through for feeding and watering. The process used by the
Poles in early times was to place each goose in an inverted
earthenware pot large enough to accommodate the victim
comfortably. After being fattened for even two weeks many of the
geese could be removed only after the pots had been broken.
"The livers, which become enlarged to an almost incredible
size, are sold separately and command a good price. In Germany,
in particular, goose liver is served in a variety of ways. In
Strasbourg and in other places the livers are prepared for the
table in the form of pate de foie gras, a delicacy to tickle the
palate of the epicurean." Morley A. Jull, "Fowls of Forest and
Stream Tamed By Man," The National Geographic Magazine, Vol.
LVII, No. 3, March 1930.
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