Call for top chef foie gras boycott

AN ANIMAL rights group has called on Alain Ducasse, Joël Robuchon and other top chefs to stop using foie gras.

The group L214, named after an article of French law which stipulates that all animals should be placed by their owners in conditions that are compatible with their species’ biological needs, said that France’s chefs should not support animal abuse.

L214 spokeswoman Brigitte Gothière said: “Even on the most prestigious tables, foie gras is nothing but the swollen organ or a bird placed in a cage, force fed and made sick.”

The organisation has uploaded several videos of the conditions in which birds are kept to its website www.l214.com

The videos were filmed secretly at Ernest Soulard, a supplier of foie gras to some of Paris’ top hotels and restaurants including: le Fouquet’s, the Georges V, Joël Robuchon’s l'Atelier and Alain Ducasse’s Jules Verne and Le Meurice restaurants.

They show birds trapped in cages, unable to move and birds being force fed.

Ms Gothière added: “This investigation shows that there is only one way to produce foie gras: the price of the horrible suffering of an animal, whether is sold in the supermarket or appearing on the menus of the most prestigious restaurants.”

“We call Joël Robuchon, Alain Ducasse and other top chefs to not support this cruelty to animals and to write a new page for gastronomy,” she said.

Photo: L214