I live right near by Salt and saw these protestors one night while I was driving home. I don't get it? Is Salt the ONLY restaurant in town serving Foie Gras? I can only guess the 'controversy' is that they fatten the ducks up to get good foie gras (I've never eaten it myself... just watch a lot of Food Network!) But it seems a random thing and even more random restaurant to protest. Don't turkey farmers do the same thing for our gigantic Thanksgiving birds? Why target them? Jane and her son have done more positive things in that neighborhood than negative, that's for sure.

An Anti Foie Gras protest, no doubt the participants are taking time out of their busy schedules of drum circles and Kucinich rallies.

It is pretty awful "how" they fatten up ducks but it's Jason's choice to sell a legal food product!

We were just their last night. We love this place. The protestors have not hurt this restaurant they just are extremely annoing. Why don't these people picket the big places... like Charlestons

Or better yet, why don't all of the neo-puritans in this county quit trying to tell the rest of us what we can eat, whether that be foie gras, trans fats or raw milk.

"It is pretty awful "how" they fatten up ducks but it's Jason's choice to sell a legal food product!"

Just as it is the protestors' rights to speak against it. As a vegan I do find it peculiar in some sense to single out foie but please educate yourselves as to how it is produced before you dismiss the concern.

I suppose this is thee in vogue carnivorous thing to protest these days? The oxymorons are at it again!

Can someone please clue me in to what exactly foie gras is ?????

Good question. I should have said: Fattened duck or goose liver.

The protesters target Foie gras because it is a tiny industry, two producers in this country. Beef and veal are BIG business. So are chickens and turkey, pork as well. If I had a choice of being a duck in upstate New York or a chicken on the Eastern Shore I'd choose to be a duck. Almost 300 people were killed in Baltimore this year and these folks stand outside Salt to protest liver. Spend that time at a soup kitchen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABeWlY0KFv8
Bourdain vists a foie gras farm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IWN8UGDyC0&

I found above to be cruel and it opened my eyes. Not every farm does it the same.

The link from Bourdain's visit to Hudson Valley Foie Gras is much more realistic than the video posted by Eric.

While it is true that every farm is different, it is also true that treating animals poorly creates bad product, which is bad for business. Some farms pay their feeders a bonus based on the quantity of ducks they bring to the final stage. This encourages feeders to treat the ducks with kindness and care.

For those who've seen videos which seem to show animal cruelty, I suggest people check out http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsC7.htm for an article on Animal "Snuff" Films. These films are often faked, exaggerated, and taken out of context to fool an unsuspecting audience.

Also, to learn about the scientific eveidence on the animal welfare aspects of foie gras production, check out the links at http://legalfoiegras.blogspot.com/ .

I agree Lizzie, and I would like to think that I am smart consumer. I just found that disturbing (whether realistic or not) video link from the same page in YouTube as the Bourdain video. Nevertheless, it still made me think. I guess I would rather be Kobe beef getting a massage while on a diet that includes sake and beer! I will surely die a happy cow :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef

Britney taught me a very important lesson in 2007 - that any publicity is good publicity. Salt is the Britney of 2008! Loves it.

I've had my locks super glued my front window shot out with a pelet gun and we recieve about 30-50 hang up calls when ever they protest. Comparing me or Salt to a pop tart is crazy.

Misunderstanding or miscommunicatrion Chef Ambrose - a lot of people are coming to Salt's defense and I was simply emphasizing that the blog discussion may actually be for Salt's benefit. Looks like now that some know you offer foie gras, they'll be headed to your restaurant whether it's for the anti-anti-foie gras dinner or not.

"A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor, for it takes irony to appreciate the joke which is on oneself." Jessamyn West

Jason, why dont you open your mind and talk us. Stop hiding behind your mother. It is not personal, it is about compassion for animals.

Just because Foie Gras is legal, does not make it moraly acceptable. Chicago has banned it, California has an upcoming ban on it. There is obviosly something wrong with it.

Brian, If I go spend time in a soup kitchen, is that going to lower the murder rate in this city. Apparently that is your solution. I see now why you are not the Police Commissioner. By the way, what cause are you currently an activist for?

Dear ignorant diner, foie gras is the deseased liver of a hybrid duck or goose. It is produced by forcing a steel pipe down their throats and force feeding them so their livers become 12 times their normal size. Thus becoming deseased.There are only two farms in the country and they both produce it the same way.

Name calling is not necessary and makes people much less likely to actually listen to what you have to say.

You do not persuade people to your way of thinking but treating them in a hostile or disrespectful manner.

Foie Gras is a part of our culinary history. The EU has officially protected it as a heritage food, which means the French will be making it for years to come. Viva La France!

I understand how foie gras is made, and I have no problem with it. What I do have a problem with is those people who are forcing their beliefs on others, whether that be in a legal manner as with the Chicago ban or in an economic manner as with the protest at Salt.

David, I'm curious, what exactly are we allowed to eat? I'm guessing your not a fan of veal, beef, chicken, turkey, pork or fish. So, with your kind permission is macaroni and cheese acceptable? Could you provide weekly approved menus?

Robert (the single one), I quickly realized why you are single. You can eat anything you like. All I ask is that you consider the suffering and cruelty that you support while feeding yourself. Let me know when your free and I will come over, jam a four inch steel pipe down your throat and pump ten pounds of slop into your gut three times a day until your liver becomes the size of a basketball. Only then will you realize the pain and suffering envolved in the production of foie gras.

Gee, isn't the word you're thinking of "deceased" and not "deseased"? Or were you thinking "diseased?

Either way David, your comments demonstrate an utter lack of ignorance on how foie gras is produced in North America - specifically from Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York State.

My suggestion to you is to gather your fellow "foie gras haters" and visit Hudson Valley Foie Gras. Take a road trip. Get out of town for a day or two. Tour their facilities. Report back on their living conditions and how healthy (or unhealthy).

It's about time you saw these "atrocities" with your own eyes, rather than some miscellaneous report from publications with an ax to grind.

Then, after you've visited Hudson Valley Foie, I suggest another trip down to the Eastern Shore to visit any number of commercial poultry farmers supplying Purdue. Ask them to visit their confinement houses and see the chickens.

Next, take a trip out to Nebraska and visit a commercial beef farm and visit their confinement pens and tour their slaughterhouses.

If you actually take the time to educate yourself, I think you'll find a lot more to be outraged about rather than foie gras.

Before making assumptions and comments, I would inform myself on the issue and then make an educated decision...

Very simply, most of the protesters, some of whom I know very well, DO spend time volunteering for various other organizations supporting both animal AND human causes.

They are protesting foie gras BECAUSE it is a relatively small industry in the United States so there is hope that the practice could be ended (as was the case in numerous other countries)

I would like to think that no one is against meat eaters (though some are) but rather the practices and negative effects of the meat industry. These people are trying to educate and inform others. Not just annoy or target them.

I hope this sheds some light.

"It's about time you saw these "atrocities" with your own eyes, rather than some miscellaneous report from publications with an ax to grind. Then, after you've visited Hudson Valley Foie, I suggest another trip down to the Eastern Shore to visit any number of commercial poultry farmers supplying Purdue. Ask them to visit their confinement houses and see the chickens. If you actually take the time to educate yourself, I think you'll find a lot more to be outraged about rather than foie gras."

Wow, first a great tip from the "fur commission" from resident shill Lizzie Vonhurst and then this. Do you need to have an "axe to grind" to be concerned about animal abuse? The only ones I have EVER hear making apologies and rationalizations are those profiting financially from it (and those who actually believe them). The few videos and photos are very hard won from undercover investigations instigated by employees. Really, its just the tip of the ice burg and the opposite of an "exaggeration". Furthermore, does a lack of concern for foie gras ducks and geese some how translate into concern and compassion for other abused animals (or people for that matter?) Those in animal commerce help each other and lobby for each other through organizations like the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA). There has been a "Petition to President Bush" demanding a revocation of PETA's 501(3) status since 2001. You can find this petition on the Fur Commission Web site. The NAIA is run by a dog breeder and board member of the AKC, an organization that rakes in over 30 million a year from registering dogs from puppy mills. Both organizations lobby against humane laws and train breeders and others to do so. Oh yea, they are a register 501 (3) tax exempt "charity". They will make any hysterical accusation necessary in order to discredit activists, rather than address the real problems of animal abuse. I'm sorry, I just don't think you can make a case for steel leg hold traps being "humane". It sometimes takes animals (including many dogs and cats) days to die. They also have the option of chewing their limb off, which about a quarter of them do. Eventually they are clubbed, drowned or suffocated.

As far as Foie Gras, we are talking about force feeding of ducks and geese kept in squalid, filthy cages in various stages of painful illness and death throes due to enlarged livers, stress and disease, some literally bursting from over feeding and being eaten alive by rats, too sick to even move. I highly recommend that you and your brave band of supporters visit one of these farms. However, if you lack the intestinal fortitude to see first hand what you have so strongly endorsed, you may view film footage of a fois gras farm at http://jewishveg.com/asacredduty/. The feature film "A Sacred Duty" was made in Israel, a country that has banned fois gras. Copies of this film may be obtained free from the website or viewed in it's entirety on-line.

Wow...I had never read this topic all the way through. Good thing. I probably would have stayed over on Sarah's blog, commenting on American Idol. Nasty stuff here on both sides.

I, myself, never eat foie-gras because it is, you know, liver.

GACK!

If I dood it I get 'panked. I dood it.

Talking to a zealot is like trying to teach a pig to sing: it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

(slinks away from keyboard and dons flame-proof outfit)

Trust Bucky to get right to the heart of the matter!

Dahlink, it is just such a clear, simple issue to resolve, isn't it?

"For those who've seen videos which seem to show animal cruelty, I suggest people check out http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsC7.htm for an article on Animal "Snuff" Films. These films are often faked, exaggerated, and taken out of context to fool an unsuspecting audience."

Oh yes Lizzie, the "fur commission" is a great place to start! Tell me, how do they "fake" the films of all of those dead animals in steel leg hold traps? They look pretty realistic to me. How do the "extremists" fit those ducks into those little wire cages? Is it cleverly disguised activists dressed up as workers force feeding those ducks?

The fur commission is our friend though, isn't it Patti? They are a client of the National Animal Interest Alliance as most likely Hudson Valley Foie Gras is! Other clients of yours include National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Master of Foxhounds Association, International Professional Rodeo Association, American Kennel Club (of which Patti is a board member & the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association

The milk of compassion certainly runs through through Lizzie Vonhurst aka Patti Strand. She is probably in her 60's and yet is setting up fake blogs pretending to be a "college student" strangely obsessed with rationalizing foie gras and horse slaughter.

Ms. Strand, please get a life. Money isn't everything. Your wealthy NAIA clients in the fur, factory farming, vivisection and puppy mill industries would be wise to do the same.

National Animal Interest Alliance
11402 Se Flavel St
Portland, OR 97290-6579
503-761-1139
http://www.naiaonline.org

Musette (LaFranc) -- your act is getting old. It is one thing for you to be (apparently) stalking Lizzie Vonhurst on various blogs and posting responses on the foie gras topic. However, your most recent post above (ranting about fur, puppy mills, fox hunts, and rodeos) is decidedly off-topic for this food blog. Kindly take your mini-vendettas elsewhere -- it's a big Internet, so you may actually find somebody out there willing to listen to you.

I hearby declare that when I redeem my 20,000th post certificate, I will eat foie gras in a Baltimore area restaurant and wear a fur hat while doing so. Photo will be provided.

Why is there so much less concern for the "animals" that are contrained in the "mink farms" or whatever the current term is, of workers in the prairies of the corporate internationale!

I'm still not eatingfoie gras because it still is liver and that makes it, you know, GACK!. But I think I'll go shoot a goose.

Its blood is on your hands, Ms. Musette...

I don't understand why some folks focus on foie gras when the huge corporate factory farms are far more cruel to far more animals, as well as causing environmental devastation, putting family farms out of work and abusing immigrant labour.

You want cruel, go drive on the Eastern Shore, and look at some of those chicken farms.

But, what about the people farms?

I don't like liver either but thats my choice just like it's others choice to eat it.

But I personally would like to take some of the protesters out in the woods, sort of like Man vs Wild, and see if they might like to try it after 3 or 4 days of starving. But that's just me.

sort of like Man vs Wild
Make it like Survivorman. It was reported that Wild stayed in hotels with his camera crew while he was supposed to be out in the wild.

Les Stroud on Survivorman is really on his own.

EL, I'm all in favor of debate; however, I don't see the point in allowing outside posts from political interest groups. Any post that concludes with the address and website of some advocacy group seems to violate the spirit of the blog.

That being said, I would like to encourage everyone to send a donation to the foie gras purveyor of his or her choice.

I've been trying to figure out if I should do anything about this. The main thing is that I hate to be in the censorship business. If regulars all feel the same way as RoCK, I think it might work better if you would ignore them and make sure that whenever one of the foie gras comments appears on the Most Recent Comments, you comment on enough other posts to knock it off the list. That way they can talk among themselves if they want to. I mean, it's a big internet and I have a lot of space, so who cares? If I had the capability to say "comments closed" on the post, I would, but the only way I can do that is to remove the entry. EL

EL -- the comments under this very anti-anti-foie gras dinner post had become so vitriolic, eight months ago, that you decided to invoke Rule No. 2 and declare a moratorium on the subject. I assumed that this meant that you were going to close the comments on this post. Is there really no way for the blog experts to enable you to do so?

I was hoping people would simply stop posting. I can ask TPTB, but there's no obvious way. I just hate not to post comments. EL

Lets be clear about one thing. This issue being used to peck away at people's eating habits with the ultimate goal being that no one will be allowed to eat meat. They demonize foie gras today and maybe something else tomorrow.
Down the slippery slope we go!
As for some folks giving equal weight to human conditions to that of ducks/geese, you're whackedoutshiteforbrains if you think they exist on a equal plane. Animals don't have any rights aside from what humans give them. We're the only specie that can afford the luxury of even contemplating such a concept as animal rights. Wanna go complain to a lion as it rips a just born baby wildebeest in half that its not fair to the little darling?
Which is worse? That or a duck that gets gavaged during the last few weeks of life?
Another example? This time I'll use a human condition.
A geriatric patient who is bedridden, riddled with bed sores and fed with a tube. Now THAT is a sad state of being. Ducks being gavaged? Not even close.