Some 240 bills – good, bad and misguided – await debate now that the 2006 Legislature is under way. In this short session, Legislators must separate the wheat from the chaff, prioritizing what is important for Washington citizens.
Categorize a bill proposed by Rep. Brendan Williams, D-Olympia, to ban the sale and consumption of high-priced goose liver, known as foie gras, as misguided. Details about how foie gras is produced clearly make the case that this is a moral issue that should concern anyone who gives the slightest hoot about animals. But it should not be a Washington state legislative issue, since foie gras is not produced here. There are only three foie gras farms in the entire country.
Foie gras is made by force-feeding ducks and geese several pounds of corn mush several times a day. They are force-fed with a pipe shoved down their throats and into their stomachs. Producers do this for a month or so, then slaughter the bird for its 1-to 2-pound fatty liver, or foie gras. Overfeeding causes birds to contract hepatic lipidosis, which causes the animal’s liver to swell up to 10 times its normal size. Nutritionists note that the fat and diseased liver is not the healthiest delicacy in the world.
It’s hard to blame Williams for wanting to see the forced-fattening process end. But the way to do it is not to restrict what people eat, what restaurants serve or what gourmet food shops sell. He can call for a boycott, he can call on Congress or he can work with national and world groups that are fighting to end the practice. But banning the sale and consumption of the pate in Washington is not the answer.
California, which has one foie gras farm, last year became the first state to ban the production of the pate. However, the law doesn’t take effect until 2012, giving the farm time to phase out production. New York has entertained similar legislation for the past few years. However, New York is home to Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the largest factory farm in the nation, with $17.5 million in U.S. annual sales.
The ban won’t pass there because states simply can’t be in the business of putting others out of business. Consumers must do that.
France, where all this started, is also under pressure from other European countries to ban the practice. French legislators responded with a vote that declared foie gras part of France’s heritage, thus giving it cultural protection such as the Eiffel Tower enjoys. Guess the ban won’t start there.
Williams’ well-intended bill should die, but everyone should take to heart its food-for-thought message about treating animals humanely.
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