Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A Look at Foie Gras Production

Posted by M at Wednesday, January 14, 2009

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2 comments:

mv said...

Once PETA shocked me into awareness so many years ago, I reached my threshold very quickly. When I see something like this I end up dwelling on it and can't get it out of my head. So, once that threshold was reached, I stopped watching the brutality. I just can't. But I do inform people about these videos when the opportunity presents itself.

The last PETA video I saw, was, in fact, on foie gras, some years ago, and it had Sir John Gielgud as the spokes person. The amazing thing, if I recall correctly, was that no hidden cameras were needed for this documentary. The people force feeding the birds had no problem with being documented.

January 14, 2009
M said...

I actually first stumbled into vegetarianism years and years ago after reading a Hungarian roommate's copy of _Recipes for a Small Planet_ and then seeking out _Diet for a Small Planet_. At the time, it was mostly for environmental and health reasons. It only lasted a few years. Reading _Animal Liberation_ is what made me clue in about animal sentience and what lead to my become vegetarian again maybe 10-11 years ago, but it was participation in online veg communities (and further reading) that lead to my decision to become vegan. PETA was always just on the periphery.

I have a hard time watching the videos, as well. I took an animal ethics course in university 3-4 years ago and decided to do a paper on vivisection, just because I'd already covered so many different other things pertaining to animals in other ethics classes. I spent an evening researching it -- reading accounts and watching footage, and after a half-hour of flat-out sobbing decided to write about something else.

Watching these sorts of videos when you already know the brutality that exists in a certain practice and live your life accordingly is akin to self-flagellation, but I think that for some people who adhere to the "out of sight / out of mind mentality" that videos like these can be effective, and because of this, I'm really glad that we have the technology that allows people the opportunity to see the footage.

January 15, 2009

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