Obama eats veal and foie gras? Seriously?
posted by: Drew Wilson 155 days ago
"I think how we treat our animals reflects how we treat each other. It's very important that we have a president who is mindful of the cruelty that is perpetrated on animals."
Those are the words that Barack Obama said when he was asked a question about animal rights at one of his campaign stops during election season. I'm not going to get into the PETA/Fly-swatting issue, but I will say that there have been a lot of misunderstandings about that silly issue. With the recent news of Obama and his family eating veal in New York and foie gras in France, do we need to re-evaluate the president's stance on animals? Veal and foie gras are two products of some of the most extreme forms of animal abuse in factory farming. A number of countries have already banned the production of veal or foie gras and some American states have recently begun to follow suit.
Foie gras (also called pâté) is nothing but fatten duck liver. It's produced by repetitively force-feeding ducks shortly before they are slaughtered. A metal tube is pushed down the birds' throats and grains are forced into their stomaches. It's a cruel practice that is already on its way out. Over 100 restaurants in the United States have removed the dish from their menu because it is inherently cruel. Obama's home city, Chicago, even banned the sale of it, although they later repealed that ban.
Veal is a milky-colored, tender meat produced from baby cows. When it comes to cruel farm practices, veal is notorious. New-born calves who are discarded by the dairy industry are confined in crates only slightly larger than their bodies. With no room to turn around and an iron-deficient diet, the calves do not get any exercise, they develop no muscles mass, and become anemic. California just recently banned use of veal crates by popular vote, Maine followed suit shortly thereafter, and Massachusetts is now likely to see the next victory.
The tide is clearly turning. Veal and foie gras are so cruel that chefs and politicians are banning them, so why hasn't President Obama taken notice? What can we do to get his attention?
I took a look on care2 and did not find a petition about Obama and veal or foie gras. Anyone know of one? If you find one (or create one) I'll post it here.
Those are the words that Barack Obama said when he was asked a question about animal rights at one of his campaign stops during election season. I'm not going to get into the PETA/Fly-swatting issue, but I will say that there have been a lot of misunderstandings about that silly issue. With the recent news of Obama and his family eating veal in New York and foie gras in France, do we need to re-evaluate the president's stance on animals? Veal and foie gras are two products of some of the most extreme forms of animal abuse in factory farming. A number of countries have already banned the production of veal or foie gras and some American states have recently begun to follow suit.
Foie gras (also called pâté) is nothing but fatten duck liver. It's produced by repetitively force-feeding ducks shortly before they are slaughtered. A metal tube is pushed down the birds' throats and grains are forced into their stomaches. It's a cruel practice that is already on its way out. Over 100 restaurants in the United States have removed the dish from their menu because it is inherently cruel. Obama's home city, Chicago, even banned the sale of it, although they later repealed that ban.
Veal is a milky-colored, tender meat produced from baby cows. When it comes to cruel farm practices, veal is notorious. New-born calves who are discarded by the dairy industry are confined in crates only slightly larger than their bodies. With no room to turn around and an iron-deficient diet, the calves do not get any exercise, they develop no muscles mass, and become anemic. California just recently banned use of veal crates by popular vote, Maine followed suit shortly thereafter, and Massachusetts is now likely to see the next victory.
The tide is clearly turning. Veal and foie gras are so cruel that chefs and politicians are banning them, so why hasn't President Obama taken notice? What can we do to get his attention?
I took a look on care2 and did not find a petition about Obama and veal or foie gras. Anyone know of one? If you find one (or create one) I'll post it here.
Read more: animal welfare
comments
OMG! I am so dissapointed in President Obama. I truly believed that he was a kind person, cared about animals, and the environment. I can't beleive his family eats veal & foie gras ..talk about 2 of the most cruely treated animals! One lives chained, int he dark, fed nothing but antibiotic and milk, then slaughtered at a young age of about 6 weeks. teh other, is force-fed fhuge amounts of food, by shoving a metal tube down his throat. How is this type of animals cruelty even allowed in this day and age? It makesme cry when i think about the way humans treat animals that are raised for food. And shame on the President. He's suppose to be setting a "comapssionate"example. Yah, right..I guess not! Why am I even suprised! How sad.....
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Getting upset over swatting a fly is ridiculous. Not getting upset over the fact that he is a liar and a hyprocrite. Every single interview and televised event is another spin being doled out to the American public about what a great guy this person is. He hasn't ever run a business, you cannot read his papers from Harvard, really, he has marxist friends, and he seems to thing illegal immigrants should have more benefits than a taxpaying homeowner or business owner. Again I guess you can understand his position since he is most likely an illegal immigrant also. Once he can get those laws passed it will come out.
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This disgusts me. What a hypocrite he is, just like most politicians. Says what people want to hear, that's it. How disappointing though. Disappoiting, but not surprising.
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Phoenix R - yes britain is known for hunting. But teh point is were trying to stop it. i hate hunting, and polo, and alll other equestrian events. They are sickening. And so are you. Everyone should be vegan and I as a vegan have the duty to puch the message. Swatting a fly is cruel and stupid. LEARN.
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For Jake C and everyone else making a big deal about Obama swatting a fly, here are the exact words from PETA:
"Because we've heard from so many people who want to know more about PETA's position on "Flygate," we've decided to explore the question of "to bee or not to bee" in a bit more depth.
As we all know, human beings often don't think before they act. We don't condemn President Obama for acting on instinct. When the media began contacting us in droves for a statement, we obliged, simply by saying that the president isn't the Buddha and shouldn't be expected to do everything right—if not for that, we would not have brought it up. It's the media who are making a big deal about the fly swat—not PETA. However, we took the opportunity, when asked, to point out that we do offer lots of ways in which to control insects of all kinds without harming them, including the humane bug catcher we sent President Obama."
Enough said.
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Jack C, you disgust me! Your haughty british remarks are uncalled for. Let's face it, your motherland isn't much better, what with your fox hunts and polo - those horses are in pain too, and for what? For some outdated mode of british entertainment. Put a sock in it, will ya? You think that GW Bush was better than Obama? If you do, you really are missing the boat! Not everyone wants to be vegan and why should they? Sure, animal rights need to be focused on; however, just because someone swatted a fly doesn't make them an ogre. Get over yourself, please.
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Kathryn, yah, I'll just bet your "food animals" are real "happy campers" when they're being slaughtered after only having been allowed to live a small fraction of their natural life spans, & in a pen, no less. Wooee! Can I come live on your farm as one of them, so I, too, can get a taste of the 'good life'? Get real. Perhaps you need a veal heart transplant for yourself. Or some foix gras piped down your own throat.
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President Obama disgusts me. Although I am British and had no say in the vote, I am outraged that a country with so many caring people, and with such a high population of vegeterians/vegans allowed such a cruel man to lead the USA. What he does influences so many peoples lives. I am still outraged that PETA and other animal rights groups did not make a large fuss about the fly swatting incident - whether or not we can see the flys pain it was still a living animal, with feelings and emotions. Obama eating veal and foie gras is just out of order. Understandably, he must honour other countries traditions, but at the same time he needs to reinforce the modern, social ethics of the USA. Would he eat Ikikuzuru (Probably spelt wrong - but its eating live fish) in Japan? Or dog meat in Korea. This is speciesism at its worst - a huge politcal figure who controls a vast portion of the planet is discriminating against certain species - and people will follow his bad example. His statement first shown at the top of this report states that we should be mindful of how we inflict pain onto animals. If he says this, why does he eat meat at all? Although he directly did not castrate a piglet without anaesthetic or debeak a chicken, he hired the person that did it! I also seem to remember in his inaugration speech about how america needs to pull together during the economic downturn. A vegan diet is not only cheaper and more efficient, but also helathier for overweight americans. Go Vegan!!!
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sorry Kathyrn your pitch to Care2 to continue to buy your meat 'products' doesn't fly with me. "Happy campers"? I doubt that.
That is a ludicrious as the Foster Farm chicken commericals where the two chickens do their best to become FF chickens. (yeah sure chickens love battery cages and inhumane slaugher) the same goes for "Happy Cows come from California." I live in Ca. I see the muddy bogs the cows live in and the paralyzed cows left out in the open until the meat truck gets around to picking them up, all the while they are lying there thirsty and frightened. To make a living off of other creatures suffering....
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.... and how many of the 92% "NO-SAYERS" lied?
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