Introduction and summary
 |
| Foie gras: delicacy or cruelty? |
According to
"Foie gras ban: New York restaurateurs enraged by 'unjust and unfair' measure," a vote to ban foie gras, which is traditionally made by force feeding ducks or geese to enlarge their livers, has opposed animal rights activists, who are happy that a tradition they see as "cruel and inhumane" will end, and those working in the farms and restaurants that produce and serve the delicacy. If the ban, which was passed 42 votes to six, is signed into law by New York's mayor, the city will join other states and countries where foie gras is illegal, but the affected industries say they will take legal action to overturn the ban before it begins in 2022.
____________________________________
Response: What is your opinion?
 |
Duck lunch by my brother –
I got the liver! |
Food is important to most of us: it's something we socialize over, talk about, and share on Facebook. And first off, I have to confess that I'm a foie gras lover. I grew up on a farm, and among other animals, we raised ducks both for sale and for ourselves. Our ducks led very happy, free range lives until they were killed; and they were never force fed, merely provided with as much grain, fresh grass, organic worms and other yummy foods as they could eat. They certainly grew plump and delicious, and their livers, while not recognized as foie gras by the snobby French, were a favourite at the dinner table. In fact, on my annual visits to see my family, the livers are still very popular at the duck dinners my brother now produces from his free range ducks.
The article suggests the foie gras can be created without cruelty to animals, but does not say how this is done. It merely quotes the New York duck farmers as saying this, so I'm not sure whether it is true or not. My own experience of our ducks is that although they are easily tempted to eat a lot and get deliciously fat as they enjoy stuffing themselves, the resulting livers are deliciously rich, but not the same as foie gras produced by force feeding.
But the issue that really interested me is whether, and when, it is OK to make non-human animals suffer or be killed so that we can enjoy eating them. And is force feeding a duck any worse than keeping them in cramped pens like to so many chickens and pigs are for their entire miserable lives are cut short when they are killed? The meat industries seem to me to not only kill a lot of animals every day, but they do cause a lot of suffering. It also seems to me that the animal rights activists are right to point out that when we buy meat in a shop or order it in a restaurant, we are effectively paying someone else to kill and torture for us, which makes us like a mafia godfather who does not kill himself, but is still responsible for the killing and suffering that comes from his orders to paid servants.
I think that there is also a much deeper set of moral issues raised by the way we human animals treat our non-human relatives, but this is enough for now.
____________________________________
Question for your classmates
Is it morally acceptable to pay other people to kill animals and cause them suffering for no better reason than to enjoy the taste of their killed bodies?
As usual, the summary took most of the 50-plus minutes I spent writing this blog post. I had to read the article a few times first to be sure I understood it. I then decided what the most important ideas were, and after thinking about how to organize them in a couple of sentence, wrote my first draft. That first draft was 129 words, which was too many. The first revision got it down to 119 words, and then a bit more work reduced it to the current 117, which I'm happy with.
ReplyDeleteAlso as usual, the much longer response, which grew to 413 words before I decided to stop, was much easier to write, although that too took some planning before I started writing, with revision as the writing was happening.
My response led naturally, I hope, to my question (one only) that you, the reader, might like to respond to in a comment.
The different reading and writing skills used to summarize and respond to an article are all the sorts of skills that IELTS tests.
And although useful practice should be challenging, so that you are pushed to extend yourself, it's also good if you enjoy producing a solid piece of work that challenges others to enjoy reading and responding to.
A note on the second photograph:
DeleteI took it when I was staying at my brother's home last year. His other guests were our 90-year-old mum (on the right), a sister and an aunt. In the past, it was a challenge to beat my mum to the livers, but her doctor has told her to eat a bit less of the very rich food she loves. She still has a very healthy appetite!