# Woo-hoo! Chicagoans can eat enlarged livers again! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 15, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379 "2008-05-15T01:19:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/1 "2008-05-15T01:19:34Z")
[Foie Gras ban to be repealed.](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_re_us/foie_gras_ban) I’m a little surprised at the landslidiness of the turnaround. The ban passed 48-1 in April of '06, and the repeal passed 37-6 today. I’ve never had foie gras, but all this fuss about it has pretty much convinced me I gotta try it. Probably not the “awareness” that the ban’s supporters were trying to raise! 😃 Mundane Pointless or Cafe? Decisions, decisions… ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/2 "2008-05-15T02:35:44Z")
Meh, not a lot of “landslidiness” in political bandwagon-jumping. It was time for some “oh my goodness!” handwringing animal rights PC in 2006; now it’s more important that the restaurant association should be happy. It’ll be PETA’s turn again pretty soon, you betcha. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/3 "2008-05-15T03:41:41Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] now it’s more important that the restaurant association should be happy. [/QUOTE] (looks at poster’s name) _We’ve come for your liver!_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/4 "2008-05-15T04:32:20Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] Meh, not a lot of “landslidiness” in political bandwagon-jumping. It was time for some “oh my goodness!” handwringing animal rights PC in 2006; now it’s more important that the restaurant association should be happy. It’ll be PETA’s turn again pretty soon, you betcha. [/QUOTE] So, we can have your liver, then? By the way, foie gras is pretty rephrehensible. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/5 "2008-05-15T05:29:40Z")
I love foie gras, and, despite the ban, it was easy enough to find if you tried. But, hell, if you really want to make some kind of animal cruelty statement, ban veal, or battery farmed chickens. The average person doesn’t give a shit about foie gras. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/6 "2008-05-15T06:58:38Z")
Oh, I’d love me some Calvados Foie Gras torchon, rolled in pistachios, with caramelized apples and raspberry gastrique right about now… I miss working in fine dining, when I could eat anything I wanted at anytime ☹ Wow, even Firefox’s spell checker is anti foie gras… ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/7 "2008-06-06T00:45:19Z")
[QUOTE=CoG888] Oh, I’d love me some Calvados Foie Gras torchon, rolled in pistachios, with caramelized apples and raspberry gastrique right about now… I miss working in fine dining, when I could eat anything I wanted at anytime ☹ Wow, even Firefox’s spell checker is anti foie gras… [/QUOTE] Mmmmmmm. Torchon with gastrique? You speaka my language! And for the record, fuck those dumb birds. Get in my belly! ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/8 "2008-06-06T00:58:44Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] And for the record, fuck those dumb birds. Get in my belly! [/QUOTE] Quote + Username = Does not compute. Head.. hurting.. explosion… imminent. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/9 "2008-06-06T01:33:21Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Quote + Username = Does not compute. Head.. hurting.. explosion… imminent. [/QUOTE] It’s irony, son. Welcome to the Aughts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/10 "2008-06-06T01:55:23Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] It’s irony, son. Welcome to the Aughts. 😉 [/QUOTE] Yes, irony. Delicious it is. 🙂 And Foie Gras IS truly evil, as one that truly appreciates it can attest. No other silken meat butter can attain such orgasmic heights of oral and olfactory pleasure, and sadly, it’s so expensive and there’s never enough of it, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/11 "2008-06-06T01:59:16Z")
They ran an image of a duck being force-fed in the paper a while ago, and that pretty much turned me off. Sorry. I’ll give mine to you, if you want it. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/12 "2008-06-06T12:52:06Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] They ran an image of a duck being force-fed in the paper a while ago, and that pretty much turned me off. Sorry. I’ll give mine to you, if you want it. [/QUOTE] My understanding is that modern “humane” methods involve women (apparently the ducks respond better to women) with a feeding pack on their back with a tube connected to it. The birds willingly flock to the feeder, who inserts the tube into their throats and massages their throats to get them to overeat. Once they eat a determined amount, they are led to a water trough as they become very thirsty from overeating all these grains. They then drink way more than they normally would. It is this rinse and repeat with overeating and overdrinking that causes the livers to enlarge to their glorious fattiness. I suppose I can empathize with those that don’t want to eat it, but I don’t really care about birds much. Plus, this forcefeeding of birds for their livers is an ancient practice, dating at least back to the Egyptians. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/13 "2008-06-06T13:30:26Z")
Whether it’s the goosemaid in the barnyard picture or the metal-tube thrust by Billy Bob Joe, it just doesn’t strike me as any more cruel than any other farming practice, from debeaking to feeding cows ground up cows. It makes me shake my head when people go on about the evils of foie gras while enjoying their Chicken McNuggets. It’s like everyone can get all PETA on this one food because they don’t eat it anyway, and remain stubbornly carefree about foods they _do_ eat. Whatever. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/14 "2008-06-06T13:36:29Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Whether it’s the goosemaid in the barnyard picture or the metal-tube thrust by Billy Bob Joe, it just doesn’t strike me as any more cruel than any other farming practice, from debeaking to feeding cows ground up cows. It makes me shake my head when people go on about the evils of foie gras while enjoying their Chicken McNuggets. It’s like everyone can get all PETA on this one food because they don’t eat it anyway, and remain stubbornly carefree about foods they _do_ eat. Whatever. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Exactly. I can respect someone that holds their convictions across the board, like vegans, but don’t be the stinky hippie that won’t use antiperspirant because “it causes cancer” while you blow cigarette smoke in my face. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/15 "2008-06-06T15:52:56Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Whether it’s the goosemaid in the barnyard picture or the metal-tube thrust by Billy Bob Joe, it just doesn’t strike me as any more cruel than any other farming practice, from debeaking to feeding cows ground up cows. It makes me shake my head when people go on about the evils of foie gras while enjoying their Chicken McNuggets. It’s like everyone can get all PETA on this one food because they don’t eat it anyway, and remain stubbornly carefree about foods they _do_ eat. Whatever. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] That’s fair–but there’s also people like me who _do_ care about the stuff they do eat, and try not to frequent companies who have inhumane practices. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/16 "2008-06-06T15:57:45Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Whether it’s the goosemaid in the barnyard picture or the metal-tube thrust by Billy Bob Joe, it just doesn’t strike me as any more cruel than any other farming practice, from debeaking to feeding cows ground up cows. [/QUOTE] It’s not. In fact, it’s actually considerably _more_ humane. Look into industrial pig farming some time. Those pigs _wish_ they were ducks. Anybody who rails against the cruelty of foie gras production but blithely picks up a pork chop at the supermarket is somebody who doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/17 "2008-06-06T16:18:33Z")
For what it’s worth: [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=470841) discusses _foie gras_ as a follow-on to [this Staff Report.](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgoose.html) ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/18 "2008-06-06T17:02:24Z")
I don’t have a problem with the way they farm the duckies, after all I looooves me some delicious meat products so I will not complain, but organ meat of any kind squicks me out. Anyone else who wants to eat it though is welcome to it. And on a scale of ways to be tortured I am going to put being overfed delicious foods right up there with too much oral sex at the “most pleasant ways to be tortured” end of things. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/19 "2008-06-06T18:08:46Z")
[QUOTE=pbbth] And on a scale of ways to be tortured I am going to put being overfed delicious foods right up there with too much oral sex at the “most pleasant ways to be tortured” end of things. [/QUOTE] No matter how one feels about foie gras, this is a pretty dumb argument. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379/20 "2008-06-06T18:15:06Z")
It was meant to be a joke, Troy. I will be sure to use many multi-colored smileys in the future to make sure to help others avoid the whoosh. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-chicagoans-can-eat-enlarged-livers-again/449379.md?page=2)