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Good News For Ducks: City Council Bans Foie Gras

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Forget about skyrocketing gas prices, soaring property tax assessments and corruption that has federal investigators crawling all over City Hall. Aldermen have a more pressing concern: Foie gras.

Chicago restaurants can no longer sell the pricey liver delicacy that most Chicagoans can't afford, have never tasted and probably never will, under an ordinance unanimously approved at Wednesday's City Council meeting over Mayor Daley's derisive objections.

Chef Didier Durand prepared the rich, buttery, duck liver delicacy that soon will be banned in Chicago on Wednesday night, a Frenchman bidding a sad au revoir to foie gras.

"In no way should we have removed it from the chef's table," the Cyrano's Bistro chef said.

"Foie gras" is French for "fat liver." Animal activists say ducks and geese are brutally force fed grain to increase their livers to ten times their normal size.

"We as a society should condemn these kinds of violence and torture to animals," said Ald. Joe Moore (49th)

But gourmands, like the owner of Cyrano's Bistro believe, there's no torture involved.

"They can pick up a fish and swallow it all the way down to their stomach, so that says their neck is expandable," Durand said.

When superstar chef Charlie Trotter stopped serving foie gras at his chic Chicago restaurant last year, the issue picked up steam. But Mayor Daley says the City Council is working from the wrong menu.

"We have children getting killed by gang leaders and dope dealers. We have real issues here in this city. And we're dealing with foie gras? Let's get some priorities. Our priorities should be children, the quality of education. It should be seniors. We should worry about the gas price. We should worry about the global economy," Daley said.

"I think we have four restaurants that serve foie gras. ... Someone talks about foie gras this week. What's next week? What's on your menu. ...You tell me what's next week we're gonna decide what you should eat and what you should do. ... France is very proud of it, right? Maybe next, they'll start out wanting to [ban] French fries because of the name 'French fries' and maybe someone doesn't like France."

Not surprisingly, Chef Durand agrees.

"The smoking ban. Now, the foie gras ban. What's next, no sex?" Durand asks.

Ald. Joe Moore (49th) made no apologies for championing the foie gras ban. He contends the Council can walk and chew gum at the same time. "It's not going to cost the taxpayers a single nickel. It's not taking away any funds from any other city services or human service programs. It's simply outlawing the product of a cruel and inhumane practice. That's all it does," Moore said.

"Simply because there are other inhumane acts that occur against human beings and there are a lot of problems we need to deal with doesn't mean that we can't take a short moment out of the day and forbid the sale of a product ... that's not going to effect anybody. It's not required for human sustenance," Moore said.

Veterinarians and animal rights activists have described in graphic detail how geese and ducks suffer while being force-fed to create the enlarged liver delicacy. They've made comparisons to the mistreatment of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

In banning the appetizer, Chicago joins the state of California and a host of countries that have approved similar crackdowns. They include: the United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Israel.

Famed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter has already stopped serving foie gras, and more than 100 other Illinois restaurants have signed similar pledges.

Moore has estimated that "not more than a dozen" local restaurants still serve the controversial appetizer, which is not cheap. It runs between $15 and $30 per serving as an appetizer.

Only three U.S. farms produce it, none in Illinois. The ordinance takes effect in 90 days.

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