French Fight Back Against California Foie Gras Ban
Ok, so Californians don't actually eat all that much foie gras. And French people don't drink that much California wine, relatively speaking. But that has hasn't stopped one pate-eating ami of food lovers everywhere from taking a stand for what he believes is right. Here's Philippe Martin, the president of the general council of Gers:
"I call on all the restaurants in France that sell Californian wine to stop doing so in a show of solidarity for our foie gras makers and, more broadly, for all food makers,"
Martin was spurred to anger by the ban on the sale of fatty goose and duck liver that took effect in the Golden State on July 1. The tirade wasn't exactly selfless: Gers produces two-thirds of the foie gras consumed worldwide, about 16,000 tons.
But Martin deserves praise for self-awareness ("This won't have severe impact on the Gers region trade balance, let alone the French trade, or the California trade balance," Martin told Bloomberg Week.) and also for proposing a voluntary boycott.
The last time the U.S. and France got their culottes (or should I say bobettes?) in a bunch about the trade balance between the two countries, President George W. Bush wound up threatening to bar Roquefort cheese and—you guessed it—foie gras from the U.S. of A.
