Foie Gras/Ethics of Eating on KALW Monday night

[Guest guest]

Please call in with thoughtful, respectful comments regarding ethical eating and the result of the foie gras bill. It's a great opportunity to speak to the most ethical kind of eating: veganism! Let's not feed any stereotypes about animal advocates and vegetarians but really turn the tables and take back the idea of "ethical eating." The "sustainable agriculture"/"slow food" people have totally usurped the idea of ethical eating. I beg the question if it's "ethical" to raise the animals humanely (which is questionable anyway) before the animals are killed, isn't it even "more ethical" to not kill the animals at all?

 

Anyway, let's be a voice for the animals.

 

Thanks!

 

On Monday 11/22/04, 7:30pm to 8:30pm, the topic forCity Visions Radio (91.7.FM) will be:THE ETHICS OF EATING: FOCUS ON FOIE GRASCall in during the show at 415/841-4134 or e-mail usat commentsPlease forward this press release to anyone who isinterested.****************************************************THE ETHICS OF EATING: FOCUS ON FOIE GRASGov. Schwarzenegger signed a bill last month banningthe production of foie gras in California. This markeda turning point in an ongoing battle between animalrights groups and many people in the culinarycommunity. Although most of us rarely eat foie gras,the controversy over the delicacy brings up importantissues about how we eat, especially in San Franciscowhere fine dining is a favorite activity.Senate bill 1520 gives Sonoma Foie Gras seven years toshow that their method of producing foie gras is notcruel to ducks. Some animal rights organizationsapplaud the law as a first step toward banning theforce-feeding of ducks (the current and by mostaccounts the only way to produce foie gras). Othersfeel the law was hijacked and now gives legalprotection to California's only foie gras producer.Opponents of the law include chefs and others in theculinary community who believe food choices shouldn'tbe legislated. They fear that banning a delicacytypically served in high-end restaurants will put adamper on San Francisco tourism and discourage peoplefrom opening new restaurants here at a time whenthousands of San Francisco's restaurant jobs have beenlost to less regulated cities like Las Vegas. Some ofthe folks who oppose the law also say that foie grasducks are treated much more humanely than mostchickens, cows and even turkeys in the state ofCalifornia.How should livestock animals should be treated? Doesour appetite for meat lead to inhumane and/or damagingfarming practices? Is it important to preservetraditional artisan food products like foie gras? Whyhas foie gras been targeted instead of large-scalemeat production? Will SB 1520 lead to a loss of jobsin SF?Joining Rose Levinson to discuss these issues and moreare:-Bradley Miller, National Director of the HumaneFarming Associationhttp://www.hfa.org/-Daniel Scherotter, Executive Chef at Palio d'Asti inSan Francisco & Director of the Golden Gate RestaurantAssociation-Michele Simon, Founder and Director of the Center forInformed Food Choiceshttp://www.informedeating.org/