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Chicago lifts ban on foie gras |
05.16.2008
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CHICAGO--The City Council here voted 37-6 May 14 to repeal the ban on foie gras in the city's restaurants.
Back in April 2006, Chicago became the first city in the nation to ban the sale of fattened goose liver delicacy.
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In bringing the measure to the floor, Mayor Richard Daley, put the kaibosh on debate, ignoring pleas from the ban's sponsor, Alderman Joe Moore, reported the Chicago Tribune. According to the Tribune, restaurant owner Alderman Thomas Tunney quietly filed the paperwork to repeal the foie gras ban earlier this week, and animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and United States Humane Society were unable to mobilize their volunteers and organize a protest to prior the vote.
"They (the council "understood what they passed and they corrected it," said Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in the Chicago Sun-Times. Simple as that because once you get into every menu item dealing with food, we would be here forever every day debating all types of issues with all types of food. That's not the role of the City Council," Daley said.
In an email, Ariane Daugin, owner and cofounder of specialty meat purveyor D'Artagnan, likened the repeal of the foie gras ban to "a 21st century equivalent to the repeal on Prohibition. It stands for freedom of choice, common sense, truth and most importantly, freedom to eat."
The city had issued a few warnings to restaurants for snubbing the ban and one eatery was fined, reported Reuters. After the ban went into effect, the Illinois Restaurant Association and the Artisan Farmers Alliance filed a lawsuit claiming the law unconstitutional, but last year a circuit court judge here disagreed and upheld the law. The Illinois Restaurant Association and the Artisan Farmers Alliance estimate the ban costs the Chicago economy more than $18 million.
Other states have considered similar bans. In 2004, California passed a law that will end the production and sale of foie gras in the state in 2012.
See related stories in Gourmet News' archives:
Fracas over foie gras continues in Chicago
07.2007
http://www.gourmetnews.com/index.php?p=article&id=gn200707EtQqX6
Judge upholds Chicago ban on foie gras
06.15.2007
http://www.gourmetnews.com/index.php?p=article&id=gn200706xySUoz
Chicago foie gras ban heads to court
09.08.2006
http://www.gourmetnews.com/index.php?p=article&id=gn200609qrm0lA
Chicago retailers ready for city's foie gras ban
07/2006
http://www.gourmetnews.com/index.php?p=article&id=gn200607Bz0H7g
Windy City bans foie gras
04.28.2006
http://www.gourmetnews.com/index.php?p=article&id=gn200604FM5P8F
http://www.gourmetnews.com/index.php?p=article&id=gn200805g4tff3 <http://www.gourmetnews.com/index.php?p=article&id=gn200805g4tff3>
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