Hyland,+The+Foie+Gras+Parable

Title: The Foie Gras Parable Director: Dan Barber Year: 2008

This video is a TED talk from Chef Dan Barber. Barber is the chef at Blue Hill restaurant in New York City and is often associated with the movement to get food from local, sustainable farming. His restaurants ingredients are collected primarily from a small group of nearby farms called the Blue Hill Farms. The central argument of his talk was that there are ways to create delicious food without employing animal cruelty and industrial food processing techniques. He takes up this stance through the example of foie gras or a goose liver confit. Traditionally, foie gras is made by force feeding geese grain – more grain per day than they would normally eat in a lifetime – in a process called gavage. This process causes the liver of the goose too expand far beyond its natural size. Foie gras is greatly maligned for the way the animals are treated when it is getting made and it is likely that it would be outlawed all around if with weren’t considered one of the most delicious foods available.

Barbers central argument against the gavage involved in foie gras – and the mistreatment of animals on a whole – revolves around a story he tells about a farmer he met on the border of Spain and Portugal who developed an ethical method of making foie gras. The farmer, Eduardo Sousa, does not force feed his geese at all. In fact, he lets them eat whatever they please at all times. His key is to provide them with foods that they want to eat so they eat a lot of it on their own. His 30 acre farm is planted with olives, figs, an assortment of herbs and spices, and various other plants the geese want to eat. Because of this, the geese live happily on his land; free to roam and even fly away if they chose to, but they never do. They do not even migrate. The only fence around the property is an electric fence which Eduardo rewired to be charged on the outside in order to protect his flock from predators. The geese live so well, in fact, that the farmer does not rely on the mating of his animals to help generate the flock. Rather, as wild geese migrate in the winter, his geese will call to them in the sky at which point the wild geese will land not just to visit, but to stay and live off Eduardo’s land. The most amazing part of this whole process is that Eduardo’s foie gras tastes phenomenal. It frequently wins awards for flavor and is all done by just letting the geese liv happily and only taking them to slaughter when they are fat enough on their own terms. Eduardo even admits he could make more money off his farm by selling the olives and figs his geese eat but he feels like he is there to service them and make them happy.

One part of this film that I did not find very compelling was the description of Eduardo winning one of the most prestigious French awards for food with his foie gras. It was very cool that he was able to do this, however, it became a disheartening part of the story when there was a great uproar over his win simply because he did not force feed his animals. People were trying to get him stripped of his title due to his kindness.

This film is an excellent view for anyone, but especially someone who is passionate about the fair treatment of animals – because it shows that people, who have evolved to eat both plants and meat, can satisfy our diets with sustainable and kind practices. The content delivered is simple enough to understand that someone with any level of background could gather a lesson from it and powerful enough that even the most disinterested viewer would be attentive and moved.

One thing this video could add to improve its environmental educational value is a look into other sectors of animal harvesting and talking – at least briefly – about any efforts there. Because foie gras is such a delicacy, it may be difficult for some people to relate to the context in which this talk is presented.

The film does not really draw out any plans for action aside from what the lessons from it may inspire someone to do. I would suggest challenging a handful of organic crop farmers to try to incorporate some livestock into their farm and see how well Eduardo’s model holds up for them and if they are able to do it successfully, expanding their farms and getting word out about kinder ways to raise animals.

After viewing this, I was inspired to see what kind of recognition this farm had received for its work. I found tow articles, one in BBC News and one in Time Magazine. The BBC News article gives a brief overview of the farm and discusses the value of ethically treating animals. The Time Magazine report asks whether ethical foie gras can be done in America and cites Eduardo’s farm as exhibit A of the right way to treat animals. [] []