If you have reservations at Beast or Le Pigeon this weekend, prepare to enjoy the screeching of some very angry goose lovers. This just in from the Portland Animal Defense League:
On Saturday, June 26th at 6:30pm the Portland Animal Defense League will be staging a unique protest event against two Portland restaurants that sell the fatty goose liver dish foie gras. Peter Young, Jeffery Luers, Andrew Stepanian, and Darius Fullmer who have been charged, convicted, and incarcerated as “domestic terrorists” will be joining the Animal Defense League in addressing the restaurants & press about the extreme cruelty involved in the production of foie gras. Beast Restaurant and Le Pigeon are the last of Portland’s restaurants to continue to sell foie gras. The fatted goose liver pate is only made by the force-feeding of factory-farmed geese, a violent and abusive process that the Animal Defense League calls “extreme and depraved.”
Couple things: Beast and Le Pigeon are NOT, in fact, the last Portland restaurants serving foie gras. And, not all foie geese are “factory farmed.” And you’re embracing the whole terrorist thing? Hmmm… Whatever floats your boat, kids. {Edit – After reading the press release through (oops), the connection is that they believe torching SUV’s is NOT terrorism, while killing geese is. Hey, I’ve got press release fatigue. It happens.]
Anyway. You’ve been warned, Blogtownies, and the ADL has gotten out their overly long and shrill press release. So I guess it’s win/win.
UPDATE 5:20 pm: Just saw this on Beast’s website. Talk about some timing:
This may be a one and only…Tell your friends! Many of you over the last nearly 3 years have said…I wish my veggie friends could come to Beast. So, here you go! Naomi was a vegetarian for 7 years and understands your craving for the fresh seasonal produce. And… Naomi LOVES Rosè Wine and wants to share the love! Come to an ALL VEGGIE, ALL ROSÈ dinner to celebrate the bounty of summer produce. One Seating. 7pm. 6 courses of food and wine $100 including Wine. Reservations BY PHONE ONLY. 503.841.6968.
Damn. [via @lauraherbert]
Fatted goose liver is good!
What a bunch of fucking losers. Geese suck. I wish their demise was more violent.
Oh! I get it. They think foie is terrorism. And they were convicted of domestic terrorism for blowing up SUV’s, so…
Uh. Clever.
Gonna have to go with the knee jerk vegan thing here. Ya’all are weird for eating it.
I think they list themselves as terrorists because animal rights people tend to be prosecuted as such. If you plot to blow up someones car because they are a jerk, no big deal. But if you are doing it in the name of environmentalism, then you are looking at a very lengthy jail sentence.
Never had it before, is it yummy?
The vast majority of foie gras is now produced in cage free environments, and yes, it is delicious. Without it, there would be no supply for duck breast or confit, and then we could all just slit our wrists in the bathtub whilst in the trances of a heroin induced coma.
Foie gras is like eating pure evil. So, you know, it’s f*cking delicious.
I’d much rather protest Le Pigeon for the time I found a Kleenex in my salad. Yuck!
But Beast? Yeah, yeah…gimme.
This makes me WANT foie gras. And told me where I could get some. Good job, PADL.
we’d love to have as many Foie Lovers hanging outside to show the LOVE.
XOXO -Beast Ladies
Man, there’s nothing more bad-ass than torturing an animal for two minutes of sensual delight!
And “cage free” REALLY means something!
Isn’t most, if not all, foie gras produced and sold in the US from ducks not geese? Certainly every bit I’ve seen for sale is. How tough is it to get super-basic facts straight? Apparently tough for “terrorists.”
What a bunch of morons..actually caring about something beyond themselves! I mean, really, the nerve of some people. They need to get jobs so they can afford to eat foie gras and then they would see how tasty it is. Does anyone know where I could find a restaurant in Portland that serves whale sashimi and chimpanzee ribs?
Is it a real protest or a faux one?
I understand that, after this protest, they’re heading up to Alaska to picket the bears. Have you seen the way they treat salmon? Good lord, they EAT THEM ALIVE!!!
There’s no “torture” in the entire foie gras process. Maybe if geese were people, but since their trachea (aka windpipe) is not located in the same place as humans’ are, they’re not choking or anything. How is it any less humane than the process of butchering the animal in the final act, anyways?
Stupid fucks. As someone said up there, it makes me want to go eat foie. I wouldn’t have even been aware of how delicious and awesome it is had there not been so much publicity over protesting it in the first place.
Fact check: The 4 US foie gras farms 1) raise ducks, not geese; 2) do in fact keep them cage-free for most of their life. The funnel-feeding in the last 2 weeks 1) takes a couple of seconds twice a day; 3) done by experienced feeders known by the ducks, it seems not to be stressful to the ducks after the first time or two; 4) ducks & geese have no gag reflex, and have a stretchy esophagus lined with a protective membrane. This is not “torture” or “abuse.” It’s actually humane animal husbandry (unless you see that concept as an oxymoron, as it is for anti-meat abolitionists like the Animal Defense League Protesters).
The first time I ever went to Le Pigeon was because there were protestors outside with anti-foie gras signs. I had no intention of eating there that night, but I saw the signs and thought, “Hey, you know what? I haven’t had foie gras in ages! I think I’ll go in and order some!” Kind of counterproductive if you ask me.