MARK CARO – The Foie Gras Wars

In the summer of 2007 Philadelphia, in addition to other cities, was making headlines for what our guest Mark Caro calls The Foie Gras Wars. Some people consider foie gras – French for the fatted liver of a duck or goose – inhumane, as the process of fattening involves force-feeding corn to farm-raised birds through a funnel down their throats. Animal Rights activists protested the serving of foie gras in local restaurants by approaching restaruants’ customers and staff, and picketing and papering the businesses and homes of chefs who served the controversial delicacy. Activists are still battling the treatment of ducks and geese and are continually organizing to have foie gras banned. Our guest, Chicago Tribune writer Mark Caro has chronicled this ongoing debate in his new book, “The Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000-Year-Old Delicacy Inspired the World’s Fiercest Food Fight.” Listen to the mp3