The last Megnut post I’ll read is excerpted below:
When I was a young chef, I spent about a week on a foie gras farm in the Dordogne valley in France. I spent days force feeding ducks.
The experience I had in France is that they fed the ducks a warm mash of corn, water and duck fat that was administered through a funnel.
The funnel had a wire in it that helped to expedite the mash from the sides and through the tube. The wire moved when you pressed a peddle with your foot. Sort of like a sewing machine.
I sat in a comfortable small straw lined corral with 6 ducks in 6 corrals on a small stool. The warm mash was poured into the funnel. I held the duck under one of my legs and extended its’ neck upwards and gently opened its’ mouth and inserted the tube to about the top of the chest. As I pressed the machine with my foot, I gently pulled the funnel up until the bird’s throat was filled with mash. The funnel moved across the ceiling from corral to corral.
It was an extremely gentle and intimate experience. The animal does not have a gag reflex. They always waddled away perfectly happy and full and ready for a nap.
As you know, I’m sure, ducks naturally gorge prior to migration. They are genetically programmed to make sure they are full for their ultimate flight. People who are taking issue with this have attacked a very small artisinal industry that is easy to target. I am actually heartsick that they have made such inroads. What will be next?
Reluctantly posted under food: this is not about food so much as politics. I don’t favor bans, but I have to wonder at one’s affection for a food that requires such a vigorous defense. I don’t know that the gentle pastoral imagery in the excerpt makes me think any more fondly of force-feeding ducks.
Dogs will also gorge, given the opportunity: would a description like the above with dogs replacing the duck be just as acceptable?
Unsubscribed.