"Foie Gras Campaigners Target Leeds" - Caterer Search
Foie-Gras | 02.03.2008 11:57 | Animal Liberation
FROM THE CATERER SEARCH, INDUSTRY WEBSITE AND MAGAZINE:
"Animal rights campaigners in Yorkshire have announced they are to target restaurants in Leeds this weekend in a bid to turn the city “foie gras free”.
The move follows a series of protests against restaurants serving the controversial delicacy in recent weeks.
This has included the Michelin-starred Midsummer House in Cambridge, which was forced to remove it from its menu after being vandalised by the Animal Liberation Front.
Campaigners from Foie Gras Free North (FGFN) said they will target restaurants in the city this weekend, including Anthony's at Flannels and Chino Latino, to convince them to stop serving foie gras to diners.
Rupert Stevens from FGFN said: “We have attempted to contact these establishments to initiate a discussion but are yet to hear from any of them.
“We are calling on people to boycott these establishments, and to inform restaurants of that decision. Foie gras production is a horrific abuse of animals, and unfortunately there a few people that take pleasure in this suffering.”
Last year a motion to discuss a potential ban on the sale of foie gras in York restaurants and shops was taken off the political menu.
The City of York Council was to consider a motion calling for the sale of the French delicacy to be banned on ethical grounds, but instead asked council officials to investigate the issue and compile a report."
Please note that Anthonys @ Flannels have now changed the menu! Chino Latino still remain a target
"Animal rights campaigners in Yorkshire have announced they are to target restaurants in Leeds this weekend in a bid to turn the city “foie gras free”.
The move follows a series of protests against restaurants serving the controversial delicacy in recent weeks.
This has included the Michelin-starred Midsummer House in Cambridge, which was forced to remove it from its menu after being vandalised by the Animal Liberation Front.
Campaigners from Foie Gras Free North (FGFN) said they will target restaurants in the city this weekend, including Anthony's at Flannels and Chino Latino, to convince them to stop serving foie gras to diners.
Rupert Stevens from FGFN said: “We have attempted to contact these establishments to initiate a discussion but are yet to hear from any of them.
“We are calling on people to boycott these establishments, and to inform restaurants of that decision. Foie gras production is a horrific abuse of animals, and unfortunately there a few people that take pleasure in this suffering.”
Last year a motion to discuss a potential ban on the sale of foie gras in York restaurants and shops was taken off the political menu.
The City of York Council was to consider a motion calling for the sale of the French delicacy to be banned on ethical grounds, but instead asked council officials to investigate the issue and compile a report."
Please note that Anthonys @ Flannels have now changed the menu! Chino Latino still remain a target
Foie-Gras
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02.03.2008 14:08
Restaurateur Matthew Mooney was advised by police to either remove the speciality dish or install internal CCTV cameras at his Cheshire restaurants La Belle Epoque in Knutsford and The Duke of Portland in Lach Dennis, Northwich.
He had been bombarded with e-mails from animal welfare groups such as The Foie Gras Free North campaign, which has published a list of places to boycott.
On the website, campaigners urge activists to be polite when contacting restaurants and stores selling the dish.
But Mr Mooney feared for his staff.
He said: "Police have been monitoring the activists' websites, and an officer advised us to either stop selling foie gras, or get internal CCTV installed.
"We already had CCTV. I took the decision to remove foie gras from the menu. It was a minor part of a parfait of chicken liver dish. There is no intellectual debate about this issue, just hysterical reaction.
"We are still regularly asked for foie gras. We just explain the situation.
"Not one diner here has objected to it being on the menu." He added: "I personally will still consume it."
It is already illegal in Britain to produce the French dish, made from the livers of ducks and geese that have been force-fed grain and fat.
The process causes the birds' livers to swell to ten times their natural size.
Bolton council banned the dish from any of its events after it was revealed it was on the menu at the Bolton Food and Drink Festival function at the Reebok Stadium's De Vere Whites Hotel. Stockport council soon followed suit. Mr Mooney defended his restaurants' record on animal welfare.
He said: "I can take you to farms two minutes from both restaurants where the cattle are reared. They have RSPCA approved freedom food status."
Mr Mooney's brother David is the Raymond-Blanc-trained head chef at La Belle Epoque, which quickly gained a reputation as one of Cheshire's best restaurants, with much of its food locally sourced.
The Duke of Portland was awarded a place in the 2007 Michelin Pub Guide.
The move by Mr Mooney comes after the Midsummer House restaurant in Cambridge removed foie gras from the menu because it had been targeted by vandals claiming to be animal activists.
from the Manchester Evening News