PETA Pens Letter To Michelin CEO: Don't Give Stars To Restaurants That Serve Foie Gras, Shark Fin Soup

There are plenty of reasons to dislike the Michelin Guide -- one can claim that it has a bias toward extremely expensive restaurants, that its descriptions are sometimes opaque or perhaps that there needs to be more clarity regarding the process of reviewing. PETA has taken a different approach. The animal rights group has written a letter to the CEO of Michelin, Michel Rollier, requesting that the Michelin Guide stop awarding stars to restaurants the serve foie gras or shark fin soup. "Eating the body parts of animals who were tortured can hardly be considered fine dining," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in a press release e-mailed to The Huffington Post. "Instead of rewarding restaurants that serve these hideous products, Michelin should disqualify them from its ratings."

There is fairly universal agreement that the use of shark fin is pretty egregious -- sharks are stripped of their fins and then thrown back in the water, unable to swim. But foie gras exists in more of a gray area. Duck and geese are force-fed, but proponents and opponents disagree on if the animals feel pain.

Here's the letter in full:

Dear Mr. Rollier:

I'm writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 3 million members and supporters worldwide concerning Michelin's awarding stars to restaurants that still serve foie gras or shark fin soup. We hope that after considering the following information, you will be moved to disqualify restaurants from being rated if either item is on the menu.

Foie gras is made by force-feeding ducks and geese such enormous amounts of grain and fat that their livers become diseased and engorged. People around the world are increasingly associating foie gras with extreme cruelty to animals. California has banned the sale and production of foie gras (effective this summer), and force-feeding has been outlawed in more than a dozen countries, including the U.K., Germany, and Israel. World-renowned chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Charlie Trotter have removed foie gras from their menus because of the cruelty inherent in its production. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI denounced foie gras production as a violation of biblical principles, HRH Prince Charles has forbidden it at Royal events, and numerous companies worldwide have stopped selling this "delicacy of despair." Please take a moment to watch this video narrated by Kate Winslet, which depicts foie gras production at several major facilities.

To meet demand for shark fin soup, fishers often cut the animals' fins off while they are still alive and dump them back into the water to slowly bleed or suffocate to death. In October, California's governor signed a bill banning the sale, trade, and possession of shark fins to protect the world's dwindling shark population. California is the fourth state in the U.S. to ban shark fin imports--Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington have already done so.

I hope you will decide not to give the Michelin star rating to restaurants that still serve foie gras, such as Cyrus and L2O, or to those that serve shark fin soup, such as Sun Tung Lok. Please contact me at [e-mail] so that I can let our members and activists know of your decision.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely, Lindsay Rajt Associate Director of Campaigns

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Check out HuffPost Food's slideshow below on eight foods that may be more harmful than foie gras:

Comments

[jonny dipstick]

09:37 AM on 08/20/2012

We really need to find those massive chinese and japanese boat factories that are seriously depleting our waters and blow them all up.

[frenchfrog]

11:41 AM on 03/02/2012

In a country where 50 million people go without health insurance, it's very far fetched to ban foie gras from restaurants under the presumption that foie gras is a product of torture. It's not anymore. The self-righteous food police force should look themselves in the mirror and assess how much good they actually do for their human fellows.

As far as limiting or banning fishing of certain fish (or hunting of certain meat) goes, it's a valid concern, as you don't want certain species to disappear to preserve the course of nature.

[savvy]

06:33 PM on 02/24/2012

A shark's brain is the size of a walnut. And fIsh lack the higher order intelligence to comprehend or validate the idea of "suffering". You can question the practice based on environmental arguments, but the animal cruelty arguments are uncritical and a non-issue.

[N0NDescript0]

03:15 PM on 02/14/2012

Does anyone know whether the sharks that are de-fined are caught specifically, or accidentally? It's hard to find actual information in the glut of "it's torture and cruelty" emotional arguments that turn up upon a google search. I ask because I think it makes a difference in why the sharks were caught. Are these fishermen going out and intending to catch sharks, who they de-fin and throw back into the ocean? Or are these fishermen catching these sharks on accident, and rather than throwing them back unharmed (which doesn't make sense from a fishermens economical viewpoint), they remove the fin to make a small profit from the shark that prevented them from catching their intended fish? I think the intention matters, primarily because I'm sure that fishermen are going to kill any predators that are caught accidentally, therefore slicing off a small profit (pun intended) from an accidentally caught predator isn't as bad as actually targeting the sharks.

I would also like to know, for those who oppose finning, if it would make them feel better if the fishermen killed the sharks before throwing them back? The sharks are going to die within a matter of minutes anyways, if not from being eaten, then by asphyxiation. If the fishermen are only catching these sharks accidentally, would it make you feel better if they killed them directly, rather than indirectly?

[jonny dipstick]

09:37 AM on 08/20/2012

Its both. It used to just be by accident for the most part, but he floating factors catch everything and its really bad.

[N0NDescript0]

03:00 PM on 02/14/2012

Anyone who argues that foie gras is "diseased liver" or that it's production is "torture", obviously has no idea how Foie Gras is produced in the US. Please educate yourselves.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/12/the-physiology-of-foie-why-foie-gras-is-not-u.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+seriouseatsfeaturesvideos+%28Serious+Eats%29

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-02-18/news/is-foie-gras-torture/

http://www.artisanfoiegras.com/articles/DrSmith.pdf

[jonny dipstick]

09:39 AM on 08/20/2012

Just go to one of the factories and you will change your mind.

[TSRVT]

12:51 PM on 02/14/2012

Shark fin soup - I agree with PETA. That's about the only thin I would ever agree with them on, though.

Foie gras can be and is mostly made with humane practices nowadays.

[viciousbabushka]

12:30 PM on 02/14/2012

PETA are a bunch of attention freaks who use porno and violence against women as advertising gimmicks.

[jonny dipstick]

09:39 AM on 08/20/2012

You probably haven't been to one of the factories. You should go and you will change your mind.

[adamben]

10:29 AM on 02/13/2012

politically correct starring of restaurants vs quality of food? might as well tell michelin to go out of business because if you can't rate a restaurant according to the quality of its chefs/food/service quality then no one will pay attention to michelin. thanks for asking.

[Parkite]

09:27 AM on 02/13/2012

Here's an interesting editorial on Foie Gras. Please read it. It puts the whole issue into perspective.
Shock & Foie
Posted in Letters on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 by Mark Pastore
The War Against Dietary Self-Determinism
http://incanto.biz/2009/02/01/shock-foie/

[Parkite]

08:45 AM on 02/13/2012

For people that think foie gras is produced inhumanely, I strongly advise you to look into how chickens are "raised"/treated.
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/chickens.aspx

Compare the above video with how birds are NOW treated at Hudson Valley Foie Gras.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh_wJnQmETE

Also a Spanish producer has totally free birds that are not force fed at all. Duck & geese do this to themselves naturally. See the video from TED below.

[watch out world]

03:59 PM on 02/12/2012

Here's a great video on fois gras. It explains a lot about it. I was anti-fois gras until I saw this video. Funny and informative. It can be done humanely!

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_barber_s_surprising_foie_gras_parable.html

[Parkite]

02:56 PM on 02/12/2012

Producing foie gras in NOT torture.

The unique physiology of ducks makes hand feeding a stress free, non-invasive procedure.According to Dr. Lawrence W. Bartholf, 2005 President, New York Veterinary Medical Association and winner of several animal welfare awards, (NYSHS 1988) (HSUS 1989) (NVMA 1990):

In mammals, fat storage in the liver indicates a problem, in waterfowl it is a
normal and reversible process. The comfort of the ducks is best illustrated by their ease with the caretakers. Ducks normally maintain a “flight zone”: distance from people. In feeding, the “flight zone” or avoidance of the caretakers is very small. this is a very visible indication that the feeding process is not stressful or harmful. As we at Hudson Valley say: “Let the duck himself show you!”

[FaunaAndFlora]

01:51 AM on 02/12/2012

I would eat pate fois gras at least once a month if I could find a local source. Not that you need fatty duck or goose livers to make a good pate. I spent this afternoon making a pate from rabbit livers that is finger-lickin' delicious.

[Parkite]

02:13 PM on 02/12/2012

I love lightly sauteed foie gras. Pate is okay, but the sauteed foie gras is to die for.

[hdupleas]

04:46 PM on 02/11/2012

peta, what a joke, i wouldnt listen to anything that they say or do,

[ThomasRossCMT]

06:29 PM on 02/10/2012

Used to be to get foie gras you had to force-feed geese and then tie their necks closed to keep them from throwing up. Pretty brutal. But for years and years now, growers have been using the discovery that if you schedule the meals for the geese with exactly the right degree of infrequency, getting them to the exact maximum degree of hunger, the geese overeat naturally. Not so brutal anymore.