Chicago Reverses Foie Gras Ban

Radley Balko | May 14, 2008

A rare bit of sanity in the Windy City:

With Mayor Richard Daley running the vote, the Chicago City Council on Wednesday repealed its controversial ban on foie gras.

Over the shouted objections of Ald. Joe Moore (49th), the ban's sponsor, the council used a parliamentary manuever to put the ordinance on the floor for a vote.

The council voted 37-6 to repeal the two-year-old ban, which critics argued had made Chicago--and the City Council--a national laughingstock.

"National laughingstock" honors now fall on the entire state of California, which passed a fois gras ban set to take effect in 2012. Ald. Moore is apparently furious:

Moore, whose pleas for a debate were ignored by Daley, warned fellow aldermen "tomorrow it could happen to you."

I'm guessing Moore was referring to the parliamentary meneuver, and wasn't insinuating that America may one day crave the fatted livers of Chicago politicians over fava beans and a nice Chianti.

reason.tv chatted with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain about foie gras bans last November.

Comments

|5.14.08 @ 4:17PM|#

Soon, swords will be legal in Scotland again. FREEE-DOMMMM!

Mike Laursen|5.14.08 @ 4:18PM|#

Damn, I thought the ban on foie gras here in California was only on production. I've only had foie gras once, so I guess I'll have to make sure I eat gobs of it before 2012.

joe|5.14.08 @ 4:23PM|#

49th?

Good Lord, how big is that City Council?

|5.14.08 @ 4:27PM|#

This big.

|5.14.08 @ 4:32PM|#

Good Lord, how big is that City Council?

50 Wards (50 Alderman) -- of course there is also the "alderman" of the mythical "51st Ward" -- but he's usually a no-show :)

Taktix®|5.14.08 @ 4:34PM|#

"National laughingstock" honors now fall on the entire state of California, which passed a fois gras ban set to take effect in 2012.

or...

Geese Get Grandfathered, film at 11...

|5.14.08 @ 4:50PM|#

On the same day the City Council managed to repeal the foie gras ban AND withdraw a concert promoter's ordinance that would have required all promoters to be shaken down licensed by the city (for a small fee, of course). Is today a full moon? Or is this the introduction to the Opposite Sketch?

|5.14.08 @ 4:53PM|#

Radley,
Who really knows what the good alderman meant?

From the Tribune:
"At Hot Doug's in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood, owner Doug Sohn became the first restaurateur fined under the ordinance when he served the "Joe Moore," a foie gras and duck sausage sandwich named after the alderman."

I will definitely be at Hot Doug's on Saturday, as well as half of Chicago I sure.

jkp|5.14.08 @ 4:59PM|#

Thank god. I just tried foie gras at Le Bernadin in NYC a few weeks ago and, my god, it's freaking delicious! If you haven't yet, do your tastebuds a favor and try it at your first opportunity!

|5.14.08 @ 5:07PM|#

Chicagoans,

There's a Giordano's in Tampa now. I had no idea they were reaching so far from home. I'll have to check it out, though I'm dubious. It was always second tier in Chicago, anyway. At least it was by the time I got there. Still, I'd accept that down here, where the pizza is usually third-tier. I say that as someone who generally believes Tampa to be an excellent restaurant town, overall.

|5.14.08 @ 5:18PM|#

I don't know from fois gras, but I had a great reuben yesterday at a little joint on E. Ontario called Eppy's Deli. Try the matzo ball soup, too.

|5.14.08 @ 5:24PM|#

Fois gras is produced by torturing animals. Libertarians draw the line and agree that regulation is OK when it is to protect another living being from physical harm. So in this case I hope that more and more Libertarians will embrace regulations to protect the killing and torturing of animals

|5.14.08 @ 5:33PM|#

Just for the record, I'm not into mistreating animals. On the other hand, the world gets weird when we go too far down the road of providing rights to animals. People can do wonders by simply refusing to purchase and eat food products that are produced in ways they believe are inappropriate.

Baylen|5.14.08 @ 5:34PM|#

Libertarians draw the line and agree that regulation is OK when it is to protect another living being from physical harm.

Angelos, libertarians believe regulation is OK to stop harming people. Else stop typing. You're killing the bacteria on your keyboard with every stroke.

|5.14.08 @ 5:58PM|#

"Libertarians draw the line and agree that regulation is OK when"...

Whatever comes after that is almost certainly false. First, Libertarians don't goosestep as well as members of certain other parties. Secondly, agreeing on regulation....sheeeeeet.

The comments on the linked story are entertaining. I got the impression some of the commenters were crying while typing. 'think I might go pester them with some comment about the next item on the Chicago agenda being restoration of the 2nd amendment. Maybe not, that would be cruel.

|5.14.08 @ 6:11PM|#

Drew the line too late, there, bigbig. Should be right after "Libertarians . . . agree", no?

|5.14.08 @ 6:35PM|#

So in this case I hope that more and more Libertarians will embrace regulations to protect the killing and torturing of animals

New around here, huh?

|5.14.08 @ 6:46PM|#

Good Lord, how big is that City Council?

It's actually known as the House of Lords, with Daley as the King. We are simply his feudal subjects to which he has chosen to bequeath a rare gift. Trust me, this has more to do with "his city's" image than with freedom or anything like that.

And I don't even like foie gras.. how about lowering the ridiculous property taxes?

Joel|5.14.08 @ 7:04PM|#

...and wasn't insinuating that America may one day crave the fatted livers of Chicago politicians over fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Best throw-away line EVAR!

Too late, by the way. That dish would make me take up foie gras. Just remove the word "Chicago."

|5.14.08 @ 7:18PM|#

So . . .could we say that Chicago got "goosed" . . ?

BTW, Baylen, there's also the chance that instead of killing bacteria on his keyboard, he was ROTATING them . . .

LarryA|5.14.08 @ 7:19PM|#

The council voted 37-6 to repeal the two-year-old ban, which critics argued had made Chicago--and the City Council--a national laughingstock.

Chicago became a national laughingstock long before it goosed itself.

highnumber|5.14.08 @ 7:21PM|#

Yay!

Yay!!!

Yay!!!!!!!!!

I heard Ald Moore on WLS talk radio today. Of course he was upset about the foie gras thing, but then Roe Conn asked him what the city council is doing about violence in Chicago. Roe then called him out on a couple of his points, namely tougher gun laws and summer jobs programs. Moore never answered the gun control question. ("Chicago already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation, so why would more laws be effective?" was the essence of the question.)

|5.14.08 @ 7:26PM|#

"National laughingstock" honors now fall on the entire state of California...

You mean, we were NOT, before the ban?

"The land of fruits and nuts"

"The People's Republic of California"

"Welcome to normalcy" (when entering Nevada)

highnumber|5.14.08 @ 7:38PM|#

And one more thing:

The foie gras haters seriously misrepresent foie gras production. Animal rights activists are trying to use it to open the door to banning other sorts of meat production. Foie gras is an easy target because it is a somewhat expensive delicacy not very widely enjoyed and the method of production, at first glance, appears inhumane. It's actually more humane than most modern meat production.

|5.14.08 @ 7:59PM|#

Francisco: You forgot the flakes.

|5.14.08 @ 8:12PM|#

Fois gras is produced by torturing animals.

Sigh. The process of fattening the liver is an mere inconvenience to the animal during the feeding process. If you really really care about food production and animal care (something I seriously doubt) - target factory farms.

hke|5.14.08 @ 10:47PM|#

I don't like foie gras. Of course, I don't care if anyone else eats it.

|5.14.08 @ 11:30PM|#

Yea Chicago! When I go, I always enjoy visiting the Adler Planetarium:

http://www.geocities.com/bolidechaser/adler/adler-mars23.jpg

The Museum of Science and Industry

http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/illinois/museum-of-science-and-industry.php

And Fermilab

http://www.fnal.gov/pub/presspass/vismedia/gallery/homepage_gallery.html

VM|5.15.08 @ 7:29AM|#

hay guys - be skeptical of what Highnumber said. We have reason to believe he was NOT listening to WLS, but the Eric and Kathy show.

well, rick, when is the next trip?

(oh yay, for lifting the ban. now let's go after the equally silly, but very expensive other little mistakes they've made)

Egosumabbas|5.15.08 @ 10:42AM|#

Wow, the ban has been lifted! Too bad my taxes here are so high I'll never be able to afford any.

Guy Montag|5.15.08 @ 11:27AM|#

So, if they become a laughingstock for their silly gun laws will they lift that ban too?

Quick, someone write a few one-liners for Jay Leno!

Russ 2000|5.15.08 @ 7:01PM|#

I had no idea they [Giordano's] were reaching so far from home.

They've been in Florida for over 20 years.

Good Lord, how big is that City Council?

Big enough to have one alderman for about every 60,000 residents. 60,000 seems about right, considering most towns of 30,000 or so have a mayor. That's actually fewer aldermen per capita than Evanston, Oak Park, Des Plaines, etc.

|5.16.08 @ 10:55AM|#

Now that the ban is lifted , I will release the ducks and geese I have been holding hostage.

Anastasia|5.19.08 @ 12:02PM|#

I suppose it's silly to ban one torturous practice while allowing others, but can't we draw the line somewhere? Sure, keep animal x in a pen barely big enough to turn around in, but do we really need to be shoving metal pipes down any animal's throat? To cause suffering (even to an animal) simply to produce something yummy is barbaric. I hate to pull out the big guns, but there are people who think the best way to prepare a cat is to boil it alive, or the best way to prepare a dog is to beat it to death. Where do we draw the line?