Chicago changes its culinary mind

Victory claimed for foie gras supporters

By FRITZ MAYER

CHICAGO, IL - When Chicagoans eat foie gras again, they won’t be running afoul of the law. On May 14, the Chicago City Council voted to end the two-year-old ban on the fatty delicacy. The ban will be lifted on June 11.

Mayor Richard Daley had called the ban, which had been the source of derision from chefs across the country, the “silliest” ordinance ever passed by the council, and used a parliamentary procedure to avoid any debate on ending it.

That left a bad taste in the mouth of Joe Moore, the alderman who sponsored the initial ban. He told the Chicago Tribune, “I don’t think that’s very healthy for a democracy or very healthy for the city.”

Izzy Yanay, one of the owners of Hudson Valley Foie Gras in Ferndale, NY, pointed out, however, that when the ban went into effect in April 2006, the measure was bundled together with many other laws, and lawmakers did not have a chance to discuss the matter then, either. He said many did not know that they were banning foie gras from Chicago restaurants.

The end of the ban passed by a margin of 37 to six; the original vote to ban the product was 48 to one.

The ban, however, was never very effective. Chefs figured out many ways around it, such as giving foie gras away for free on a salad, but upping the price of a salad by 200 percent. Nevertheless, chefs in the Windy City hailed the reversal as a victory for personal choice and a defeat for the so-called Nanny State, which goes too far in trying to dictate what Americans should eat and drink or otherwise ingest.

The man who brought the reversal measure to a vote, Alderman Thomas Tunney, issued a statement saying, “Supporters of the ban have accomplished their goal by raising awareness of this issue … but, this is clearly a matter the council should stay out of, and let educated consumers and chefs make their own menu choices.”

Tunney is the former head of the Illinois Restaurant Association, which was adamantly opposed to the ban.

The animal rights group Farm Sanctuary, one of the leaders in the fight against the production of foie gras, issued a statement saying the lawmakers should be ashamed of themselves. Julie Janovsky, the group’s director of campaigns, said, “To reverse a compassionate and admirable decision under pressure from political bullies and special interests shows a cowardly brand of cynicism unlike any we have seen in our efforts to give voice to the most vulnerable beings in our society, animals raised for food.”

Foie gras supporters contend the Chicago reversal is an important victory and may convince California officials to drop their plans to ban the sale of the delicacy in that state beginning in 2012.

Yanay said his company might approach California lawmakers and present the Chicago vote and the other evidence they say they have that shows that the feeding process does not hurt the ducks. He said that information, combined with support from local politicians such as Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther and state Senator John Bonacic, may convince California lawmakers to reverse their position.

Yanay, however, is clearly weary of the legal battles with various animal rights groups that have cost the company dearly in legal fees for many years. He said, “We are good people; we don’t do anything wrong to the ducks. I don’t want to be perceived as a fighter; I just want to be left alone.”