Huge, huge thanks to everyonre for keeping things civil here. I was expecting a few insightful replies then seeing the thread locked because a few people spoiled it for the rest of us.
To reply to everything (as I remember it...):
I know the practices I posted up are not how things are done in every fois gras farm. But it's a moot point to present the argument that it _can_ be done inhumanely by pointing out that there are idiots out there who beat and bludgeon the birds while tearing their throats out. I'm not saying we should dismiss abuse - just that fois gras production done with the bird's safety and health in mind isn't any more evil than what happens to broiler chickens.
Condemning the sins of fois gras while just being opposed to broiler farming is beginning to look a bit silly.
At least from what I'm reading. Again, I've never raised fois gras, and this is a very new opinion.
Cicene, Israel has banned the _production_ of fois gras, but not serving it in restaurants. As one fois gras farmer said "They didn't save a single duck." It's like banning coccain but still making it ok to import and use. How does that change anything?
California has given fois gras farmers until 2012 to come up with a "more ethical" way of producing fois gras. From what anyone can tell, the more ethical way is producing fois gras without force feeding the birds in the first place - something no one has discovered in the thousands of years fois gras has been considered a delicacy.
All of that is discussed in the book. If you're interested in knowing more about it then the book is a wealth of information(and I wholeheartedly support knowing more about _any_ animal production process, from fish to dairy cows).
NHN, someone already made a point similar to the one I'm going to make. What makes the production of fois gras any more inhumane than raising broiler chickens, broadbreasted turkeys, or squab? Broilers spend their entire lives trying not to die of a heart attack while plagued with feeling starved for food constantly. If you've ever watched broiler chickens, they will actually sit in front of their food dish without the energy to leave it and eat. I've caught broilers I free ranged not even going up into their pen at night because they found a bag of spilled feed and sat by it _in the dark_ because eating was more important than getting to safety.
Broiler farms actually have to "run the chickens" to keep them moving so they can stay alive _just_ long enough to be killed. Is knowingly raising a bird for 8-10 weeks better than hand feeding a duck or goose for two weeks after 8-10 weeks of being a free range duck?
With my limited knowledge, right now raising broilers doesn't look any worse than the proper management of fois gras.
As for using barely to fatten the ducks. I wasn't able to find any cases of naturally produced fois gras. The closest I could find was a company who was trying it out and was producing a larger liver - but not actual fois gras.
I was able to find this from a website that was kinda entertaining while looking up the barely/fois gras thing:
There's no better example of that than Holly Cheever, a
veterinarian who sometimes consults for one anti-foie group, Farm Sanctuary, as well as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. When she visited Hudson Valley, she didn't see the kind of unhealthy, cruelly treated birds she had expected. Her reaction? She says the farmers were hiding those ducks from her and that they do the same for any other visitors, like Caro or the Village Voice's Sarah DiGregorio, who went there for a recent article and came away convinced the ducks were not being tortured -- far from it, in fact.
With that kind of attitude, Holly Cheever could easily get a job at the CIA analyzing Iran's nuclear program. Just change some words around:
When she visited [Iran], she didn't see the kind of [program] she had expected. Her reaction? She says the [Iranians] were hiding [the weapons grade plutonium] from her and that they do the same for any other visitors.
Viola, and just like that, Holly Cheever becomes a Government propagandist.
