The objection many of us have to foie gras is that is the result of force feeding geese and ducks - gavage. In fact the process of fattening the livers is natural: the geese do it themselves by gorging before setting off on migration flights. No doubt at some point in history (some say as long ago as ancient Egypt) man discovered that stuffing the birds with corn or whatever for 3/4 weeks prior to slaughter resulted in fat duck or goose liver which, depending on your point of view, is a delicacy.
Eleveurs argue that the process is not cruel, does not harm the birds; indeed they enjoy it. But the days of the friendly farmer's wife stroking the neck of her pet birds are long past and the process is more likely to be mechanical these days.
Now a couple of Toulouse micro-biologists, aided by a local vet, are producing foie gras without gavage. They analysed the intestinal bacteria of stress free birds and reproduced them for feeding to day old chicks and ended with naturally fat livers, which were slightly smaller than the traditional product, but apparently with good colour and taste. Sebastian Bras, the local chef, has sampled the product and gives it a thumbs up. The scientists have crowd-funded their idea and hope to bring about 1800 foies gras to the market by the end of 2018 - though expect a big price premium until such time as production can match demand for an ethically acceptable product.
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