Thursday, September 28, 2006

Emeril Lagasse and the Food Network promote foie gras

The Essence of Emeril is not pretty. On September 26, the New Orleans chef used his entire Food Network show to promote foie gras.

The making of foie gras is so cruel that the European Union has banned it (with loud protests from France). So has the city of Chicago, though several Chicago chefs are fighting the ban, and the mayor of Chicago is helping them by ridculing the new law, and by wholeheartedly supporting its repeal. In New York, Governor Pataki has given a large grant to a foie gras manufacturer.

And now along comes Emeril Lagasse to promote some of factory farming's most heinous torture. You can let the Food Network know how you feel here, and you can email Lagasse directly here. Both the network and the chef need to know that not all Americans support this promotion. In fact, Farm Sanctuary research shows that when people are educated about how foie gras is made, 80% of them oppose the product (the other 20%, I don't like to think about).