[Vision2020] West of Paris

[Saundra Lund]

Hi Megan & Visionaries:

The following article is from today's Daily News and seems to paint a
slightly different picture.  In particular, I take exception with Mr.
Foucachon's statement, "He wants local activists, who got their hands on an
outdated menu earlier this week, to know their threats of protest mean
nothing to him or his staff."

The "outdated" menu came directly from West of Paris' Web site the very day
I posted my concerns, not from some nefarious source.  And, we know from Mr.
Foucachon's comments right here on the Viz that he was aware of the
inhumanity of the product *before* he included it on West of Paris' menu
:-(((

Anyway, here's the article:

"Foie gras controversy hits Moscow 
Activists up in arms over delicacy's inclusion on restaurant menu; item has
since been removed

By Alexis Bacharach Daily News staff writer 
Published: 08-23-2006 

Foie gras is no longer available at Moscow's West of Paris, but not for the
reasons one might think. 

Restaurant owner Francis Foucachon sold out of the item his first week in
business. 

He wants local activists, who got their hands on an outdated menu earlier
this week, to know their threats of protest mean nothing to him or his
staff. 

"Here is the bottom line," he said. "I ordered a small amount just to see if
there was a demand in Moscow. It was such a huge success, we almost sold out
our first night." 

Foie gras, French for fatty liver, is produced through a process of
force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers become saturated with fat. 

Handlers insert tubes down the birds' throats and funnel pounds of cornmeal
into their stomachs several times a day. 

Megan Prusynski, a local activist with People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals and the Humane Society of the United States, said consumption of
foie gras went down in areas that provided focused education and outreach
programs. 

With that in mind, she's teaming with local and national groups, including
Compassion Speaks at Washington State University, to organize protests in
Friendship Square later this month. 

"There are still a lot of people out there who don't know what foie gras is
or how it's made," she said. "When I heard there was a restaurant in Moscow
serving it, I started talking to people about doing some kind of protest to
raise people's awareness - maybe get it banned." 

More than a dozen countries, including Israel, Germany, the United Kingdom,
Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland and Denmark, have
outlawed the French delicacy. 

In the United States, lawmakers are proposing bans at the state and
municipal levels. 

The California Legislature passed a phased ban last year on the production
and sale of foie gras. Earlier this month, city leaders in Chicago banned
the controversial item from all menus in the city. 

"The people complaining about foie gras have a point," Foucachon said. "The
way the birds are being stuffed is questionable, and I do believe it's
important to treat animals humanely. I will put foie gras on my menu again
when I find a producer that doesn't engage in force feeding." 

PETA spokesman Matt Prescott said that's a victory for animal rights,
because Foucachon will never find what he's looking for. 

"There are producers in the industry who say their foie gras is produced
humanely, but such claims are unsubstantiated," he said. "Investigations at
every foie gras farm has uncovered incidents of sick, dead and abused
animals. We've seen birds with holes in their throats and bloody beaks.
We've seen farms where dead birds were dangling from wires, dripping blood
on the live birds." 

Video footage and photo galleries on PETA's Web site provide images of birds
with gaping wounds, images of blood-soaked cages and buckets full of
feathered corpses. 

"No animal should be subject to torture," Foucachon said. "But these things
they're complaining about, I would suggest American chickens are treated far
worse than the ducks and the geese. Why aren't people writing letters and
staging protests at the grocery stores and restaurants that sell chicken?" 

Why stop there, he asked? 

Foucachon suggested protests against restaurants that cook live lobsters. 

"This is a group that was looking for something to use against my business
and they found something," he said. "While I believe there are some valid
concerns here, I'm not going to stop serving what people want. I will put
foie gras on my menu again." 

Alexis Bacharach can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 238, or by e-mail at
abacharach at dnews.com "
________

A Very Disappointed Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
- Edmund Burke

***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2006, Saundra Lund.
Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum
without the express written permission of the author.*****

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Megan Prusynski
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 11:55 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] West of Paris

I also wanted to give you all an update on West of Paris and the foie gras
issue. Mr. Foucachon has decided to take foie gras off the menu and I would
like to congratulate and thank him for making the compassionate choice.
Hopefully his kind actions can be a way to educate people about just what
goes into foie gras production and how cruel it is. Thanks very much, Mr.
Foucachon and West of Paris. :)

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