Home | Friday 22nd February 2008 | Issue 621

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COUP DE FOIE GRAS

A restaurant in Cambridge has stopped selling foie gras after months of campaigning by animal rights activists. The last straw came when protesters from the ALF visited Midsummer House in Cambridge on Sunday and did a spot of redecorating, graffitiing the walls, gluing door-locks and damaging door-frames and windows to encourage the Michelin-starred restaurant to remove the dish from their menus. Slogans such as “Stop Selling Foie Gras” and “Ban Foie Gras” were spray-painted on to the outside of the building.

The posh pate is made by filtly duckers in France where 30 million ducks a year are force-fed until their livers are 10 times the normal size - whilst being held in cages so small they can’t even stretch their wings. And it's demand here that helps keep these horrific practices going.

In a press release the group stated, “Because of the continued support by Midsummer House of such a vile industry, direct action had to be taken.” The restaurant was closed on Monday, with staff spending the day scrubbing the walls clean. It followed Animal Rights Cambridge who brought their own Valentines message to staff and amorous diners on the 14th, protesting outside and waving placards saying “Foie gras = diseased liver” and “Don’t buy into cruelty”.

In the end the restaurant management seem to have given in to the pressure.

*See www.directaction.info and www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/foiegras/index.html

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