This Just In...
Kevin Fischer is an award-winning veteran broadcaster who has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for nearly three decades.
Kevin, who is a legislative aide to state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, “INTERchange,” on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Franklin.
PETA's not happy
By Kevin Fischer
Wednesday, May 14 2008, 08:48 PM
Have you ever had foie gras?
A French delicacy, foie gras is duck liver.
Gourmets love it.
Some areas of the country, caving to protests that foie gras is produced after over-feeding ducks, have prohibited restaurants from serving the rich, silky liver. For the past two years, foie gras has been forbidden in Chicago restaurants, making the Windy City a target of ridicule.
The ban is no longer.
Today, the Chicago City Council repealed the ban on a vote of 37-6. The Chicago Tribune reports chefs are overjoyed:
“Restaurateurs are so happy and ecstatic,” said a jubilant chef Didier Durand, who as co-founder of Chicago Chefs for Choice led the fight against the foie-gras ban. “This is a delicacy that traces back 5,000 years; we don’t need a ban.”
“I’m relieved,” said chef Michael Tsonton. “Between the foie-gras producers, and the Chicago Chefs for Choice (of which he was co-founder), and as a member of the board of the Illinois Restaurant Association, I was in the middle. And it’s nice to be able to share some good news with our producers. “
"The timing is nice, too,” Tsonton said. “As visitors around the nation descend on our fair city [for summer], it’s about time that science and common sense ring freely over emotion and half-hearted veganism.”
Even though the repeal is only hours old, many Chicago restaurants will be able to serve foie gras tonight. Many Chicago chefs already had found creative ways around the ban.
“I’m ready,” Durand declared. “It used to be chicken liver; all of a sudden, it’s foie gras again.”Said Tsonton, “Now I’ve got to reprint my menus.”
Of course, not everyone is celebrating.
The People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA) issued the following response:
“This is industry's dirty political maneuvering at its worst. When given the opportunity to study the facts and see the footage of how ducks and geese are abused in the production of foie gras, the council voted overwhelmingly in favor of banning it. Today, that compassionate decision was reversed in a secretive, rushed bow to special interests that benefit from the cruel treatment of animals. It goes against what the vast majority of Chicagoans believe in.
“Foie gras is a diseased, rotting organ of an abused animal with a high price tag slapped onto it. The aldermen -- who voted overwhelmingly for the ban (48 to 1) -- were right the first time in banning this hideously cruel product. With foie gras bans already in effect in more than a dozen countries and a growing of number people learning about the cruelty of foie gras production, this industry's days are numbered.”What do I say?
Got any carmelized onions to go with that?
