Outcry forces foie gras industry to swallow changes

Yahoo – AFP, Sandra Laffont (AFP), 17 November 2013

An employee force-feeds a duck at a foie gras production facility in Saint-Michel,
eastern France, on November 21, 2013.

Auch (France) (AFP) - Long accused of torture by animal-rights activists, French foie gras producers are admitting they may have gone too far and vowing changes to how ducks and geese are reared and their livers fattened.

They are also promising a new spirit of openness and transparency about the controversial practice of gavage -- the force-feeding of animals by passing plastic tubes through their throats directly into their stomachs.

"Maybe we did go a little too far," said Marie Pierre Pe of CIFOG, an industry group representing French foie gras producers.

"In the '80s, 30 to 35 percent of foie gras came from Eastern European countries. We had to improve production to be more competitive and maybe went too far," she said.

Employees prepare ducks on the production

 line of a foie gras manufactory, owned by

 Pierre and Philippe Perez, in Saint-Michael,

 eastern France, on November 26, 2013.

(AFP Photo/Remy Gabalda)

Animal-rights activists have carried out a sustained campaign against foie gras -- literally "fatty liver" in French -- for decades.

Its sale has been banned in California, Britain's House of Lords has taken it off its menu and Internet retailer Amazon has banned it from its website.

The delicacy -- a standard feature on French tables at Christmas and other festive occasions -- is fiercely defended by fans who argue that birds stuff themselves with food in the wild while undertaking long migratory voyages.

But critics insist the practice is cruel and a 1998 EU report showed that death rates among force-fed birds could be up to 20 times higher than in those reared normally.

Foie gras producers have also come under fire for keeping the ducks and geese in cages where they have no space to move or even spread their wings.

It was in the 1980s that France -- which accounts for 75 percent of global foie gras production -- widely adopted the practice of keeping birds in cage-like boxes.

Now steps are being taken to improve conditions, with the French agriculture ministry ordering producers by 2016 to introduce cages capable of housing at least three birds and big enough for them to move around and spread their wings.

CIFOG is also opening the doors of farms to show how the animals are reared and fed.

"Of course gavage is not very romantic and so we avoided talking about it. But now we are trying to explain it more and more," Pe said.

As part of its transparency drive, CIFOG recently showcased a farm in the southwestern region of Gers run by Pierre Peres and his twin brother, who force-feed nearly 9,000 ducks a year.

Considered an artisanal farm, it is far from typical industrial production.

At the Peres farm, ducks are kept in enclosed areas but are free to move around. Force-feeding is done individually, with feeders picking up the animals and placing them on their laps to insert a funnel in their throats.

At the start of the gavage period, which normally lasts 15 days, the ducks are fed 250 grammes of maize and the quantity is slowly increased to double that at the end.

There are about 1,500 such artisanal foie gras farms in France -- but they are hardly the norm.

The vast majority of producers, about 5,000, are industrial sites that are the main target of animal rights groups.

A visit to an industrial foie gras farm run by the Euralis group reveals a different world altogether from the Peres farm.

A thousand ducks are force-fed there, bundled in tight cages housing three birds each.

Jars with foie gras are displayed on the
shelves of a supermarket in Toulouse,
on November 28, 2013 (AFP Photo/
Remy Gabalda)

The cages are raised to human height to make the task of feeding easier for workers. The floor below is a stinking mess, with a flowing yellow river of droppings and duck fat.

In one cage several animals are clearly injured and bleeding. In another, one duck lies dead.

Xavier Fernandez, a researcher at the Institue of Agronomical Research in the southern city of Toulouse, admitted the images can be "shocking" but said visitors should "distance themselves emotionally" from what they see.

"Force feeding is no more shocking than any other method of animal husbandry," he said.

"The real question eventually is whether we should be rearing animals for human consumption at all?"

For most in France, there seems to be little doubt, even when it comes to foie gras.

An Opinionway poll in late November found that only 29 percent of the French refuse to buy foie gras for ethical reasons and that 55 percent want force-feeding to continue.

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"Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"..  Animals and Reincarnation

On a lighter note, we interrupt the life and death discussion of Humans to talk about animals. There are the questions not asked, but laying there, of which you are more than curious. "Dear Kryon," it has been asked, "do animals reincarnate?"...

Again, the Human Being looks at animals as one word that covers trillions of entities on the planet. You believe that all of them either do or don't reincarnate, and you want one answer for them all. What if I was from another planet and communicated to you this question: "What color are animals? I want one answer, please." You'd laugh, and wonder what kind of singular consciousness I might have in my reality to ask such a thing.

So I say to you regarding your reincarnation question: Which ones? "You mean there's a difference, Kryon?" Oh, yes! We've already gone over the purpose of animals on the planet. We've told you many things about animals. We've told you that some of them are actually designed to be eaten, and they come for this very purpose. We've indicated to you what's wrong with the way you're treating them, and that you don't honor them in their death, or even as you extract their resources while they're alive. And that, my dear friends, is the reason there's disease in the meat. When you start honoring these animals in their death so that they can create the food that's needed for you, then you'll see the disease disappear.

This is a factor that has yet to be named in your language or your culture - the idea that there's an energy that the Human creates even in the appropriate slaughter of animals for food, the results of which change these animals and the health of the Human who consumes them. Why is it that the indigenous knew about it and you don't? It's an energy that addresses the consciousness of Gaia and the animal kingdom. It addresses the way animals are honored in death.

Animals don't all reincarnate, but some do - if it's appropriate for the Humans around them. Most of the animals on the planet don't reincarnate, but there are a select group and individuals who do, and even a "rule of thumb" that you can apply to those who do and those who don't. When I tell you about the ones who do, you're going to understand a little bit more about the process of who you are. Blessed is the Human Being who walks this planet in lesson: Everything revolves around you! It may not look like it, but it does. Gaia knows who you are when you walk on the dirt! You have a light that you can strike [create] and carry with you that will change the very elements around you. Matter will respond to what you do because you are the angels disguised as Human Beings.

Some of you have selected various animals on earth to be your partners or friends, and you call them pets. Even some of the ones to be slaughtered, if they have a Human who loves them, are pets... if only for a while. These are the ones who reincarnate.

"Why should such a thing be, Kryon? How does that work? Do they have souls? What's the ‘rule' you speak of?" In a way, they do have souls, but not as your souls are structured - not with the lessons your souls carry, or the multiple aspects you have. They're not angels, but they're support entities to those who are [Humans]. When they reincarnate the reason is in honor of the Human Being, you see? Animals, in general, don't last that long on the planet. You might have this beautiful partner, this love essence that you have with an animal pet-friend. Then that animal-friend disappears in death, for again, they don't live that long. The rule of incarnations is, therefore, "If the Human needs it, it happens." So there is a scenario created within the system that helps Humans temper the loss of this love, and we'll give it to you.

When your precious animal-friend dies, go look for another one right away. Don't wait. Don't wait! I'll tell you why. Immediately go looking in places where animal babies are. Make no presuppositions about the kind of animal or the gender. Don't necessarily try to match the one you lost. Instead, go to the places where you intuitively believe the young animals are, and look into their eyes. One of them will be the one... because it - and the Universe - knows intuitively where you're going to look!

This is the system that honors you. Many know this and have said, "I know this is so because when I found this other animal to be my partner and my pet, it started doing the same things that my former animal did - it even responded the same way to me." It's a beautiful system in honor of you. It's an acknowledgment of a broken heart, you see? So you can pick up where you left off.

Some may now ask, "What size animal are we talking about, Kryon? Is there a limit?" We say, there you go again [Kryon smile]. What size do you want? An elephant or a mouse? It doesn't make a difference. If they're loved by you and part of your karmic energy, they'll reincarnate. However, it might be prudent of you to intuitively look for the size of animal that meets your living needs. God doesn't give you an elephant when your mouse dies [laughter].