The Gastrocast

I mentioned that dread word on Gastrocast #7. I do hope that’s not why subscribers have been fleeing. . . . Foie Gras. However you feel about it, it is certainly one of the issues facing the food map today. Like Raw Milks and Cheese, our Government (well mainly the Governator in CA) is trying to ban this product of nature. Yeah, yeah they force feed the ducks and geese. So what? How many pieces of pizza do you eat in a sitting, or popcorn, or nachos, or any other substance which by rights could be said we humans consume in excess in one sitting? True, we don’t have a funnel stuck in our beaks and no one is sitting us on their lap, massaging our necks as they feed us, but that life doesn’t sound that far off from Dominoes Delivery. Pampered. Cosseted. Well looked after. How more human can that be? I can’t see it any worse than milk feeding pigs (or pumpkins for that matter). Basically eating means death for something. Carrots, Grasshoppers, Pigs, Octopus, Chicken Embryoes, enzymes and bacteria all die so that we may live–no matter what your tastes, philosophical or political views. We kill to live. Ducks and Geese have been serving humankind for millennia–providing feathers for warmth, eggs for life, protection of home and crops (geese are fiercely loyal and territorial), and meat through famine. Why should this change. Does technology make this obsolete? And why should I, or the government, be able to dictate to you what you choose to eat? If you want to practice sarcophagy, or coprophagia or fructarianism it is not for me to say, limit, or banish.



So why then is there such a lash and back-lash over this Foie Gras issue? Is it a case of existential resentment–I can’t afford/don’t want/won’t enjoy this luxury item, so you shouldn’t be able to either? What next? Stop Murdering Grapes–a ban on vineyard’s, winemakers, and drinkers! The passions excited by these issues are extreme. The levels which things have reached are over the top. Threats, violence, property damage, intimidation–I thought this was supposed to be a free country; a democracy. Let’s agree to disagree and stop blaming the victims.

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Not only did I post on the wrong blog yesterday, but in my correction of that faux pas I linked to the wrong one of my websites! I must say, I like to get my errors out of the way early in the day! Here is the link to my Podcasting Philosophers blog post mentioned below.

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