LET'S BAN FOIE GRAS IN NYC!

On November 29th City Council Member Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan), was scheduled to introduce an important bill to ban the sale of foie gras in New York City. The production of Foie Gras involves extreme cruelty towards ducks and geese, as described lower down in this posting. 25 million ducks and geese are raised every year for this 'delicacy'.

Foie gras has already been banned in Chicago and San Francisco, as well as Switzerland, Italy, the UK, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Israel, the Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, and Poland.

Unfortunately, Alan Gerson has postponed the introduction of his bill because of pressure from restaurants and the meat industry. I urge everyone reading this to let both him and Council Speaker Christine Quinn to know asap that we support a ban of foie gras.

The best way to contact Alan Gerson is by mail and phone, not email, by sending a letter to:
The Honorable Alan Gerson, Council Member˜1st District, 51 Chambers Street, Suite 429, New York, NY 10007
and calling his office, 212-788-7722. Ask for Paul Nagle at that number.
When you contact the office, the best approach would be let Paul Nagle know that you thank Gerson for considering the legislation, and that you trust Gerson in his efforts.

It's also extremely important to encourage Speaker of the City Council Christine Quinn by mail and telephone to support a ban of foie gras in New York. Mail letters to:
The Honorable Speaker Quinn, Speaker of the City Council, City Hall, New York, NY 10007
and call her office at 212-788-5615. If you call, say you want to leave Speaker Quinn a message.
When you contact her by phone or email, the tone should be a little different than what you send Gerson. In addition to mentioning that you support a ban of foie gras because of the obvious animal cruelty issues, emphasize the fact that New York State law prohibits production of food from diseased animals, and that foie gras is literally diseased liver. This is the issue at the core of the lawsuit and might help her hear what you want to say.

It would also be great to contact your own local City Council Member, who you can find at www.humanenyc.org

To produce foie gras, a metal pipe is shoved down a goose or duck's throat and into their stomach. 6-7 pounds of grain is pressure-driven down the pipe, rupturing the bird's stomach or esophogus 10% of the time, leading to a very slow and agonizing death. Vomiting is often prevented by tying an elastic band around the bird's throat. This force feeding process takes place 3 to 5 times a day for a month, and transforms the normally 2 to 3 ounce liver into a 1 to 2 pound mass known as foie gras. As a result, ducks and geese at foie gras farms have trouble standing, walking, and breathing. Many of them die before the end of the force-feeding cycle, and the mortality rate for ducks raised on foie gras farms is among the highest in the farming industry.

For lots of details about this timely New York campaign, visit www.nofoiegras.org
To volunteer for this campaign, email wendy.berner@yahoo.com