Archives for the 'baltimore foodies' tag
Foie Gras Protesters Try to Take ‘Charm’ Out of Charm City
Predictably shrill foie gras protesters — of the variety that’s previously yelled at peaceable diners in several U.S. cities — have invaded Baltimore, seeking to force first Salt and now Kali’s Court to stop serving the wonderful delicacy. The Baltimore Sun has a relatively good account of the mess they’re causing — see haggard, whiny-looking megaphone woman above — and of the diners who are fighting back.
Salt, like many restaurants, buys foie gras from Hudson Valley Foie Gras, a farm in New York’s Catskill Mountains, the largest producer in North America. Farm Sanctuary has targeted it.
Marcus Henley is Hudson Valley’s operations director and a member of the Artisan Farmer’s Alliance, a nonprofit charged with countering the protests. Calling objections to his farm “completely unfounded,” Henley repeatedly points out that anyone can visit the farm anytime to see scores of healthy, happy ducks.
“If you could come here, you can go in any building, you can watch every part of the operation,” he says. “The people who come here walk away and say, ‘Wow, that is not like anything depicted on the foie gras Web sites.’”
Protesters incorrectly imagine people in the birds’ place and how torturous it must feel to be force fed, Henley says. The procedure simply doesn’t hurt ducks, he contends.
The activists who’ve taken pictures of sick birds, he says, have documented the exception rather than the rule.
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Meanwhile, Baltimore food enthusiasts are coming to Salt’s defense. In fact, they’ll celebrate foie gras there at a dinner on Thursday - four deluxe courses, starting with sugar cane skewered foie gras and closing with the famous (or infamous) beef slider with foie gras.
Lars Rusins, who founded Baltimore Foodies, said his group’s dinner, which will cost about $100 a person, sold out in 48 hours. As it is, the party of 20 will take up about half the restaurant.
“I have no problem consuming the product - none at all,” said Rusins, who calls foie gras “silky” and “fun on the taste buds.”
Check out the Baltimore Foodies here. Me on similar efforts in Chicago here. The Grinder linked to my piece on Anthony Bourdain in discussing his winning foie gras politics here.
