UK: Greens launch bid to ban 'barbaric' foie gras from City

Green Party councillor Ben Duncan has demanded a ban on the sale of ‘foie gras’ in Brighton and Hove

News Release
From Cllr Ben Duncan (Green Party, Queens Park)
November 28th

Foie Gras has been widely condemned as cruel by animal welfare campaigners including Brighton MP hopeful Caroline Lucas MEP, who is a Vice-President of the RSPCA. It has already been banned by councils in York, Norwich and Bolton – and its production outlawed in Poland, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Israel.

Now Councillor Duncan has asked Brighton and Hove’s powerful Policy and Resources Committee to ban the pate from council premises, to ask the Government to impose a national ban – and to write to all food outlets in the city asking them to take it off the menu too.

“The production of Foie Gras – French for ‘fatty liver’ - is inherently cruel and makes an abomination of animal welfare standards as most people understand them,” said Councillor Duncan.

“Though it remains lawful, foie gras is produced by force-feeding geese directly into their stomachs using a tube. A foie gras bird is typically compelled to eat the equivalent of an adult human consuming 10kg of spaghetti a day.

“After two to three weeks, when they are ready for slaughter, their livers will have swollen to about ten times their normal size. The swollen liver expands the abdomen and can make movement and breathing difficult, as well as causing other health problems.”

Cllr Duncan added: "This is nothing short of barbaric - and its sale sends out all the wrong signals of what Brighton and Hove is like in the 21st Century.

"Brighton and Hove has a tremendous reputation for hospitality and this move to limit the sale of Foie Gras in the city is about maintaining that reputation in the face of increasing public revulsion at the complete disregard of modern animal welfare standards its production entails.

"This isn't just about protecting animal welfare though, it's about keeping Brighton and Hove one step ahead of the game and bringing the city in line with the expectations of the majority of its residents, visitors, and, hopefully, its directly-elected councillors."

ENDS

For more information, contact Ben Duncan at
ben.duncan@brighton-hove.gov.uk
or on either 01273 296441 or 07973 823358.

Cllr Ben Duncan
Green Party, Queens Park ward,
Brighton and Hove City Council

Link: A full agenda, and details of tomorrow’s meeting


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