Grassroots animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) has released details of their plans to protest yet another location in Winter Park this coming Sunday, February 12th. The demonstration will take place at Wild Fork, a national exotic grocery that sells foie gras.
Early last year, DxE Orlando launched a campaign to have foie gras removed from restaurant menus across the city. So far, their efforts have been largely successful. After calling for Orlando restaurants to acknowledge the inherent cruelty involved in producing foie gras, five locations have eliminated the food item from their menus. The growing list includes the Wine Room, the Ravenous Pig, Chef’s Table, Kres Chophouse, and La Boucherie Orlando.
To produce “foie gras” (which means “fatty liver” in French), workers ram pipes down the throats of male ducks twice each day, pumping two to three pounds of grain and fat into their stomachs. For geese, force-feedings are performed three times a day, with up to four pounds of food daily. This process, known as “gavage,” causes the birds’ livers to swell to 10 times their normal size. The oversized livers also lead to severe distention of the abdomen, which means that many birds are unable to walk or stand. Stress behaviors, such as feather-tearing and fighting, are also common. Female birds are usually killed immediately at birth because they do not become big enough. Because of the significant pain and suffering involved, the state of California has banned the production of foie gras. Force-feeding animals is also against the law in many countries, including Israel, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
Although five Orlando establishments have listened to their pleas, DxE Orlando says that Winter Park grocery, Wild Fork, is not one of them. Today, Wild Fork is among a small handful of Orlando locations that continues to sell foie gras and has failed to respond to DxE’s emails and calls asking for its removal from their shelves. Wild Fork gets its foie gras from Fossil Farms, which buys from La Belle Farms, a New York company known to use gavage in their production process.
This Sunday, protesters will gather in front of Wild Fork to make their demands heard in person. DxE Orlando has asked community members who care about the plight of animals suffering in the US food industry to help them bring awareness to their cause by joining in the protest of foie gras. Group organizers have announced that Sunday’s event will be completely open to the public, and materials and signs will be provided.
Members of DxE Orlando protest the sale of foie gras in front of the Ravenous Pig in February, 2022. The Ravenous Pig later removed foie gras from its menu.
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