United Kingdom-France: the foie gras of discord
Audio 02:29
A vegan restaurant in London, UK.
(Illustrative Image) REUTERS - PETER NICHOLLS
By: Sidonie Gaucher
3 min
France and the United Kingdom have a new subject of tension, which was timely for the Christmas meal: foie gras.
Or rather, the "faux fat", its vegan equivalent.
Indeed, the government of London is appealing to chefs to try to find an ethical alternative to foie gras, the marketing of which is about to be banned from British territory.
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From our correspondent in London,
The atmosphere is festive at Borough Market.
At this butcher's, conversations revolve around the Christmas menu.
It is unlikely that the absence of foie gras will be noticed, because this very French tradition does not seem to be lacking in a nation educated in alternatives.
Even if it means resolving apparent contradictions.
“
I'm a butcher but I really support the vegan movement, really.
Yes, I support both causes.
I believe in sourcing locally, with good quality products, a good breed of meat, and on the other hand, I eat meat every other day.
It is not a vegan diet but certainly a vegetarian one.
"
Beyond the food issue, the production of foie gras was banned in the UK in 2006, following the Animal Welfare Act. However, for the last fifteen years, its importation has continued, at around 200 tonnes per year. With the next ban, the government wants to symbolize its emancipation from the rules of the Union. But there is a shortfall for gastronomy. He therefore called on the creativity of chefs to find vegetarian alternatives. Like chef Alexis Gautier's “faux gras”, served in his entirely vegetarian gourmet restaurant.
“
Personally, I am an anti-foie gras, he
explains,
and with associations against animal torture, we asked the British government not only not to allow the force-feeding of ducks and geese in Great Britain. Brittany, but above all to stop importing unnecessary torture.
And they told us, yes,
we are going to do it, since now we are outside the European Union, we can do it
.
We want to convince people to stop eating foie gras, and to naturally switch to fake fat, where no one has been abused, no one has been tortured, no one has been killed but it's still the same. delicious.
That was really the key, it had to be delicious.
"
Veganism, a way of life?
Making Brexit an opportunity to import in a more ethical and fair way seems very well intentioned. But for Surge, an animal rights association, it is hypocritical to use animal welfare as a legal ground, if the government continues to allow chickens in battery, or on hormones.
And this customer, who has just bought meat, wonders: “
There is no logic in our attitude towards animals.
For example, I have a cat.
I'm not going to eat my cat.
Where is the line between a cat and a calf?
I mean if we start to impose vegan values on the way the world works, you will find yourself in the midst of very hostile people.
But I think this awareness around veganism seems to me to be going, slowly, in the right direction.
And I tell you that as a cooking enthusiast!
"
The foie gras of discord is perhaps only a symbolic snub to French imports, which, without the United Kingdom, will continue to export 5,000 tonnes each year.
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