This month’s issue of Toronto Life features a story on foie gras, in which the author Sasha Chapman sees for himself whether the practice of gavage (force-feeding) is cruel, and ponders whether Toronto will ban it as Chicago has, California plans to and New York seems to be considering. It’s a good story, a report on a personal experience, but it doesn’t offer a complete picture of the issue; surely not every producer is as well-run as Aux Champs d’Élisé.

Personally I didn’t eat foie gras, even before I started this going-off-meat plan. I tried it once or twice (and didn’t like it) before I really knew much about how it’s produced. Obviously I feel there’s a moral issue with eating meat, and I feel foie gras production is more cruel than most meat production, but I can’t say how much more cruel exactly. The UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and Israel have all banned the production of foie gras (though you can still buy it there) so this protest obviously isn’t limited to a few humane societies.

If — and it’s a big if — the general public concedes that foie gras production is more cruel than regular meat production, is the difference in cruelty enough to spur a ban on foie gras? Obviously it was in Chicago, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it happen here in Toronto.

[tags]foie gras, chicago, toronto[/tags]