Exit
FOOD
HUFFINGTON
06.17.12
MAY 2008
Mayor Richard M. Daley, who called
Chicago’s ban the “silliest” ordinance the city had ever passed, puts
forward a bill to repeal it. The City
Council votes to overturn Chicago’s
foie gras ban by a vote of 37-6.
JULY 2011
France and Germany get into a a
diplomatic kerfuffle after a major
German food fair prohibits the inclusion of French foie gras. Alain
Fauconnier, a Socialist member
of France’s senate, remarked, “It’s
unbelievable. It’s like banning
German sausages in France. The
economic cost is enormous.”
TINA WONG/THEWANDERINGEATER.COM
DECEMBER 2011
in protest. They host elaborate
foie-filled meals. Due to increased
demand in California, the price
of foie gras nearly doubles and
becomes harder to find. At the
James Beard Awards, chefs sport
“Save The Foie” pins.
While the U.K. has banned the
production of foie gras, it can still
be served at restaurants. Most supermarkets, however, prohibit the
sale. Celebrity butcher Jack O’Shea
was escorted out of Selfridges supermarket for illegally selling foie
gras to customers that knew his
secret password. Two months later
he was fired from his post.
MAY 2012
SPRING 2012
JULY 2012
Several prominent chefs and
restaurateurs who oppose the
California ban form a coalition
California’s foie gras ban takes
effect. Violators risk fines of up
to $1,000. The sole producer of
foie gras in California, SonomaArtisan, will cease operations on July 1.
Brandishing a less common strategy in the fight to ban foie gras,
leading animal rights groups file a
lawsuit against the USDA claiming that foie gras is inherently
the product of diseased birds,
due to their oversized livers, and
therefore is illegal under existing
USDA regulations.
Some chefs
at the 2012
James Beard
Awards wore
“Save the
Foie” pins in
protest of the
California law.