Veal, Foie Gras, Yum

There was a recent furry of publicity recently over the fact that veal cows are being horribly mistreated. This is hardly surprising news, since the abusive conditions in factory farms has been extensively documented in the past, and veal is pretty far down the horrifically awful end of the spectrum: animals kept their whole lives (from birth) often without being allowed to walk, tortured, and abused in other ways.

The following article documents how baby calves, just weeks old, are kicked, punched, slapped, etc., and it's a rather horrific read. Quebec is the largest producer of milk-fed veal in Canada, producing 80 per cent of the so-called white veal and we should be ashamed of it, and with a code of good conduct that is merely voluntary; that's a blemish on our Provincial image.



The production of foie gras is another disgusting and abusive practice here that is sometimes rationalized using a range of self-indulgent excuses. In case you don't know, it uses the force-feeding of birds using "gavage" which means putting a funnel down their throats and jamming in food (daily) so that their livers essentially self-destruct to produce an exceptionally fatty residue that some people like to eat. The fact that is it exceptionally unhealthy for the people who eat it is cold consolation. It is sometimes excused on the rationale that people it eat sparingly, but that's enough to sustain an inexcusable industry. It's a shame that local restaurant's in Montreal, notably the "Au Pied de Cochon," chain have come to celebrate this greasy mess as if it was something noble, rather than what seems to be to be a badge of inhumane stupidity or callousness. In several countries it's illegal.

You don't need to go so far as becoming a vegetarian to simply give up veal, or to realize that veal and foie gras is inhumane and repugnant.