NEW YORK—Inside the nursery barn, we found thousands of ducklings. Our guide said they are a special breed of waterfowl favored for the production of “fattened liver,” or foie gras.
Hudson Valley Foie Gras prides itself in trading enlarged duck livers: an ancient gourmet food produced through force-feeding the animal. The company, however, is on the verge of losing its ability to sell foie gras in New York City.
Advocacy groups, such as People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Mercy for Animals, have investigated Hudson Valley and claim to have found evidence of animal cruelty.
In response, the City Council passed a bill (pdf) introduced by Democratic councilwoman Carlina Rivera that looks to forbid the sale of foie gras.
“The gist of this entire conversation comes to whether the process of putting this thin tube in a duck’s mouth … is harmful or not harmful to the ducks,” Michael Ginor, president of Hudson Valley Foie Gras, told NTD before sending us off on a tour of his farm.
Ginor opened his business nearly three decades ago and has since received multiple culinary awards. The foie gras connoisseur and chef explained that the technique of gavage, or force-feeding, mirrors the way certain birds feed their young.
“You would have thought that the minimal responsibility that the City Council would have is to come up and visit, and understand—maybe be accompanied by a veterinarian—see our practices,” he added.
Ginor said he sent the council an open invitation to his farm, but they apparently declined his offer. Rivera also did not immediately respond to our inquiry regarding Ginor’s open invitation.
Demonstrating Gavage
It was feeding time at 2 p.m.
Vice President Marcus Henley, a 16-year-veteran of the company, led us on a pungent tour through rows of corralled Mulards in the thousands.
“So the first thing that the feeder does is he feels to see if there is any feed from a previous meal,” said Henley as a worker demonstrated the controversial feeding method. “And if there is—he has a marker—he marks the duck, and he doesn’t feed the duck.”
The worker then inserted a six-inch-long plastic tube in the duck’s throat. He fed it for about four seconds, released him, and went on to the next.
Henley explained that once their ducks are 12 weeks old, they are force-fed three times a day for 18 days. The waterfowl is overfed with two to seven ounces of feed, which ultimately enlarges the liver up to 10 times its natural size.
PETA Spokesperson Ashley Byrne told us that the enlarged liver of a duck suffers from fatty liver disease: “There’s nothing natural about it. It is cruel, and forcing an animal to live with a disease for a product no one needs is always going to be cruel.”
Despite similarities between fatty liver disease in humans and the fattened liver of a duck, the two livers are not the same. Ancient Egyptians discovered that geese naturally eat large amounts of food, fattening themselves up in preparation for migration, according to the Artisan Farmers Alliance.
The feeding continued as we left the feeding barn. Henley said his workers, some of whom have been there for decades, have three hours to feed 450 ducks each.
The Age-Old Debate Continues
So is it cruel to force-feed ducks?
Ginor said if you ask PETA, the answer would be “yes.” He added that this debate is nothing new.
Rashi, a Jewish philosopher from the 11th century, condemned force-feeding geese, which was considered a kosher product, “on the grounds that it caused the goose pain,” reported The Yivo Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe.
In New York’s case, Michael said it was political because the Council declined his open invitation.
“At the end of the day, you’re gonna see the feeding, they would have seen the feeding, [Rivera] would have seen the feeding,” he asserted. “She has her win, she got her name in the paper, she’s gonna go on to the next thing.”
The fate of foie gras now lies in the hands of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Ginor said he is ready to take legal action if the bill is signed into law.
