[Vision2020] West of Paris

[Megan Prusynski]

Actually I had no idea where the restaurant was located or that it  
was affiliated with NSA until AFTER I stated my objection to foie  
gras and my plans to protest (I found out from Saundra's post about  
foie gras before I had begun researching the restaurant). So I'm not  
singling anyone out for their religious affiliations, I could really  
care less what church Mr. Foucachon belongs to or if he's affiliated  
with NSA. And he did tell me that he plans to look for a more humane  
supplier (but the production of foie gras really can't be done  
humanely, because it relies on force feeding to fatten the animals'  
livers) and that he took it off the menu until then. He did not  
mention to me that he planned on putting it back on the menu, nor  
that he took it off simply because he ran out of it.

As for why I don't attack every single restaurant that serves meat,  
well that would be a losing battle. I'm not trying to tell people  
what they can eat. I do protest at KFC because they have especially  
cruel practices in the way they raise & slaughter their chickens, and  
they have quite a bit of clout and presence in the industry and could  
make a lot of changes if they so chose to. PETA has a campaign  
against KFC because they have refused to make some very minor changes  
in their slaughtering process (we're asking them to gas the chickens  
before they are dropped into the feather removal tank that many go  
into alive, just to be sure they are dead and don't die so  
painfully). I have to pick my battles here, and I try to pursue  
campaigns that have the capacity to educate people and bring about  
real change, and those where the suffering of the animals is the  
worst. I oppose ALL animal cruelty, but use different tactics in each  
case. For instance, I'm not going to force all restaurants to stop  
selling pork or even attempt to because I don't think it would work,  
but I will happily educate anyone about a vegetarian diet and ask  
restaurant owners to serve more vegetarian options. I also freely  
distribute information to anyone who wants it, speak at classes or to  
the press about animal cruelty issues, etc.

The reason I am particularly concerned with foie gras is that first  
of all this is the first time I have ever heard of it being served in  
Moscow (in the 5 years I have lived here) and second, it is a  
particularly cruel practice, involving what seems to me a bit more  
inhumane treatment than your average factory farm. These ducks &  
geese are restrained, a metal pipe is forced down their throats, and  
food is stuffed into them until they contract a liver disease (their  
livers swell to 6-10 times the normal size, not exactly comfortable  
or healthy). Of course most farms also keep them in tiny, cramped  
cages during this feeding stage, just like chickens in factory farms,  
but the force feeding is what I find particularly questionable. Also,  
this food is a delicacy, very expensive, and totally unnecessary for  
anyone to eat it. So it's not like I'm asking for all meat to be  
abolished, it would just be one small step in the right direction if  
foie gras was not served.

I hope I have cleared things up a bit. Mr. Foucachon, I am NOT trying  
to single you out based on any affiliations, I would campaign against  
foie gras at any restaurant I found out was serving it mostly because  
I have a particular aversion to this horrible practice, and it is  
completely unnecessary to the success of your business anyway.

I don't appreciate accusations either, Mr. Arnold.

peace,
~megan


Message: 2
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 09:09:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] West of Paris
To: Joe Campbell <joekc at adelphia.net>, "g. crabtree"
	<jampot at adelphia.net>
Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
Message-ID: <20060825160915.34744.qmail at web38102.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Maybe the Newspaper and/or Megan has misunderstood what Mr. Foucachon  
said. I bet that is the case.

   My question is why Megan would protest the mistreatment of birds  
when  pigs are mistreated and served everywhere in Moscow. Sounds to  
me like  they are just making things up to protest about because the  
restaurant  is connect to NSA.

   Best,

   _DJA