I know everyone will be incredibly busy, getting stuff done before the relatives arrive, sorting out last minute presents etc....etc.....
And, I know that you are all well informed about Fois Gras production, but...
Please take a quick look at this, suspend all cynicism as to the likely outcome - and add your support.
The online video footage accompanying the Heston Blumenthall story in the Daily Mail is sickening, but motivated me...
Yes Hilary, it is Domaine de Barbe run by Pierre-Yves Kuster and family between Badefols sur Dordogne and Molières which is after Lalinde, we live the other side of the hill, 4km as the crow flies in the next commune. They have website www.domainedebarbe.com . It is out of tourist season so perhaps not open for visits for a while but worth the effort.
Hi Brian,
I like to have a varied diet and I dont think I could ever go vegetarian and so I totally agree with your sentiments of 'a decent life' for the livestock....
I would be interested to visit this organic farm...Is it anywhere near Bergerac ?
There are several farms round about producing the foul muck. This is after all the Perigord where unless it quacks it is not eaten, if I may exaggerate very slightly. There is one organic farm where they look after livestock very well, ducks and geese included. They have a shop and that does well with tourists in the summer. Local people will mostly not even look at the place because the foie gras is not fat enough. In other words, people want the force feeding and all the rest that goes with it. I am not against producing foie gras, eating ducks and geese generally, as long as they have a decent life first. The trouble is often that although they know what happens, not seeing it themselves somehow exonerates people and then they have a 'clean' conscience when they consume it.
IMHO there are good and bad ways of farming and a good farm will put the ethical treatment of their livestock at the top of their list of priorities. Having looked at and read the OP's link I did a search for ethical production/treatment ducks in Foie Gras farming and found a significant amount of information and evidence to support that production on the whole can be ethical. I have listed the links below:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/12/the-physiology-of-foie-why-foie-gras-is-not-u.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQzH58WJt0Y#t=65
Its important to note that the "gavage" stage of production is just for the last 25 days and can be done in a responsible and ethical manner. We all have a responsibility to purchase our food from reputable sources and to shun those producers who do not treat their livestock with respect. It also highlights the fact that there are always two sides to the story. I have just made my first home-made Foie Gras and will continue to source the ingredients responsibly
I tried it once as a student, the 1st time I visited Paris 30 odd years ago....Didn't know how it was produced then, just that the best was supposed to be fantastically expensive.....