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Upstate Foie Gras Farm Not So Cruel, Village Voice Reports
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 18, 2009
Modified Feb 18, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 18, 2009
Modified Feb 18, 2009
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The Village Voice's Sarah DiGregorio has made no secret of her fondness for foie gras, so we approached her exposé on America's largest foie gras farm with a bit of skepticism. But the expansive cover story about her visit to Hudson Valley Foie Gras, one of just four in the U.S., brings some clarity to the impassioned debate. According to her observations, the short lives of ducks at Hudson Valley are seemingly torture-free, all things considered. Of course, it's possible she was "witnessing an elaborate cover-up," as one New York Humane Society rep predicted, but DiGregorio insists the owners allowed her untrammeled access to the farm, where 4,000 to 6,000 ducks are "processed" a week, and—unlike in Europe—live their 15-week lives in a cage-free environment. While there, she witnessed the entire process, noting only one dead duck, zero duck vomit, and concluded, "The fact that some industrial farms elsewhere are making foie gras in inhumane ways doesn't mean that all foie gras production is inhumane. You can buy humanely raised chicken, or you can buy chicken that's had a nasty, brutal life. The same goes for foie gras."
Tagged
foie gras
hudson valley
sarah digregorio
village voice
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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