This is the Omnivore’s Dilemma…

I think people who eat meat do so for a variety of reasons.

• We enjoy the taste and texture
• We grew up on meaty dishes like roasts, fried chicken, and goat stew
• We love a good steak
• We’re cutting down on carbs
• We like our veggies, but balance this with an occasional chicken breast
• It makes us feel strong and full and satisfies our Hunger

Whatever the reason, the reality is that omnivores like meat and enjoy it without guilt. People are talking more and more about meats and ingredients that are “grass fed”, “organic”, “sustainable”, which implies that they are healthier and better for you. Healthier and Better for you than what??

As consumers we have a few options when buying meats, milk, and animal products…

We can go to places like Wendy’s for a quick Spicy Chicken Sandwich (one of my old favorites). We can go to places like Crust in Chicago for an organic pulled pork sandwich or grass-fed beef sandwich (also organic). Further still, there are opportunities out there to buy whole animals from small farmers and split it with some friends. I’ve even heard of people buying a share of a cow to get fresh raw milk once a week. Take it one step further and you are selling your condo in the city to buy a small farm near Urbana. Then you can really have access to some good stuff.

It may seem luxurious to buy shares of cows for milk and to eat at organic restaurants and that’s because it is. The most accessible and economical meats and animal products are found at fast food restaurants, the packaged meat section, and boxes of frozen TV dinners.

So what is the conscientious omnivore to do?

For most of us, it’s very unrealistic to simply get up one morning and decide to eat only organic and sustainable food at every meal. But what isn’t unrealistic is to start thinking about where your food comes from. Then we can start making realistic decisions about what goes into our refrigerators and on our dinner tables.

If you’d like to do a little more digging into the subject of Meat and Sustainable Foods, here are a couple resources…

• The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
• The Meatrix (If you loved The Matrix, brace yourself for The Meatrix)

So that’s the question.

Although the overfeeding of geese with intent to fatten has been going on for about 5,000 years, something strange has happened in the City of Chicago, a city known for modernizing and industrializing the stocking and slaughtering of hogs and cattle. It was in Chicago that Upton Sinclair discovered the inspiration for his novel, The Jungle, where he shocked the public with the reality of the meatpacking industry.

So why would a city that was essentially built on the business of killing animals for food be the first city in the world to outlaw everyone’s favorite fatty goose liver?

Good Question.

As you all may know, the Chicago City Council approved a ban on Foie Gras with a 48 to 1 vote back in 2006. I hadn’t eaten Foie Gras when I found out about the ban last fall when it was all over the news. Yes, I am a big foodie and a chef, but I always thought that Foie Gras was one of those unreachable foods like Russian Beluga Caviar or Fugu (that Japanese PufferFish dish that can kill you). But then I started seeing it on the menu when I would dine out in San Francisco. Later, a fellow underground chef used it in one of his dinners.

So all of a sudden, Foie Gras, wasn’t so unreachable anymore! I tasted it an underground dinner, and WOW, I REALLY liked it. So I made a mental note to google it when I got home and that’s when I discovered Foie Gras’ dirty little secret. It is basically created by sticking a tube or pipe down the goose’s throat and hardcore force feeding it 4 times a day for 2 weeks. This causes the liver to enlarge, with fat, 10 times its normal size. Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Does this manipulation of the goose make eating foie gras an irresponsible and insensitive act? So if we shouldn’t eat Foie Gras, then should we stop eating veal and suckling pig too? And what about beef and chicken? I mean, don’t we hurry and fatten up cows and chickens to yield more meat in less time?
Ultimately, the whole animal slaughter business is hard to swallow. Even the biggest lovers of all things meat would cringe and perhaps even faint at the sight of a slaughtering. I once heard of a BBQ pit master that scoffed at the idea of a slaughter dinner, all the while throwing briskets and ribs into the smoker.

So you see, this issue raises a whole slurry of questions.

I consider myself a very responsible, sensitive, and socially conscious individual. I’m the guy that brings canvas bags to the market, gets on everybody’s case about recycling, and saves up for a biodiesel car. I eat cage-free egg omelets and I even like cats, a lot. But I also like the Foie Gras and I appreciate the right to eat it and especially to serve it.

On October 14th, 2007, we hosted an illegal Foix Grax Dinner Party on the South Side of Chicago.

See those Images HERE.