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Foie Gras Ban Back On Front Burner At City Hall

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Jun 13, 2007 7:30 pm US/Central

Foie Gras Ban Back On Front Burner At City Hall

Federal Court Upholds City's Foie Gras Ban

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CBS 2's Joanie Lum and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The great foie gras debate is on the front burner at City Hall once again. As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, a North Side alderman who once led the fight against serving goose liver in restaurants has changed his mind.

Chicago has the best restaurant in the country. Frontera Grill's celebrity Chef Rick Bayless and his wife Deanna were honored at City Hall for winning the prestigious James Beard Award. But they say the foie gras ban spoils Chicago's international reputation.

"At first people thought, these strange, provincial people in Chicago banned foie gras, but now it's an old joke," Bayless said.

"Hey, how's about chopped liver baby, I mean this is a joke, it's a joke all over the country," said 50th Ward Ald. Berny Stone.

The City Council banned foie gras last year because animal rights activists and others have objected to the way geese and ducks are force-fed through a pipe to plump up their livers. Violators of the ban are ordered to pay a fine.

Stone supported the ban on foie gras but now wants to flip on the bird liver ordinance. It was passed last year when animal rights activists pointed out ducks and geese are force fed to produce the fatty liver.

"This is not about these restaurants," said 49th Ward Ald. Joe Moore. "It's about animal torture and cruelty that we're seeking to ban."

The two aldermen sit side by side in council chambers, but you won't get them to the same table on foie gras. Stone says he's fed up.

"Yeah I'm embarrassed by it, damn right I'm embarrassed by it," Stone said.

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the ordinance. The judge said the law was not unconstitutional.

Stone's motion to repeal the law was sent to committee.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Court judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to reverse the city's ban on the liver delicacy.

The lawsuit, filed by the Illinois Restaurant Association and Allen's New American Cafe last August, claimed the city of Chicago has no right to regulate the sale of a product that is produced legally.

U.S. District Judge Blanche M. Manning summed up her 26-page ruling Tuesday by saying the ban on the sale of foie gras is not unconstitutional.

Messages left for the Illinois Restaurant Association and attorney Barry Rosen, who represents the association, were not immediately returned Tuesday evening.

The lawsuit followed months of protest by restaurateurs who claimed the ban violated consumers' right to eat what they choose.

Manning's decision was celebrated by animal rights groups Tuesday.

"Just as we have laws prohibiting us from abusing our dogs and cats, we should have laws that prevent the abuse of other animals," said Paul Shapiro, director of the Humane Society's factory farming campaign. "We applaud the court for its ruling and applaud the city attorneys for fighting this attempt to bring animal cruelty back to Chicago."

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