Activists call for boycott of country’s largest foie gras farm

Following the growing public interest in the issue of animal cruelty, Greenbeagle, an environmental NGO, held a press conference in Beijing Thursday calling for support in boycotting the construction of what would be China's largest foie gras farm in Jiangxi Province.

Foie gras is a famous French dish made from fatty goose or duck liver, but which requires the controversial force-feeding of the animals using a 20- to 30-centimeter-long tube. The birds are purposefully overfed in order to deposit large amounts of fat in the liver so it reaches the buttery consistency needed to be considered foie gras.

This method is regarded by animal conservationists as cruel treatment, as the liver grows to 10 times that of a healthy goose or duck, and can cause the birds considerable pain and result in the contraction of diseases. According to Wang Xue, spokeswoman for Greenbeagle, the force-feeding of the animals is unfortunately the only way to produce foie gras, which is why they are hoping to boycott the industry.

The industry

Plans to construct a new foie gras production farm near Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province are under way and, according to Greenbeagle, if completed it would be the largest one established in China so far.

According to information posted on the official website of Creek Project Investments, the British corporation investing in the farm's construction, 3 million geese had been delivered to the farm by the end of 2011 in preparation for its opening.

"The manager of the project said the project will cooperate with more than 70 waterfowl farms and the scale of the project will take advantage of nearly all of Poyang Lake's nearby resources," Greenbeagle told the Global Times.

"It will be totally different from the existing small foie gras farms in China, as potential annual production could reach 1,000 tons," he said.

Foie gras production is regarded as cruel and inhumane by animal conservationists, as the birds destined to produce the delicacy are kept in small iron cages and start to be force-fed only three months after hatching.

The process requires they be fed two to three times daily, and lasts two weeks before the birds' livers are harvested. The method leads to the impaired function of the liver and expansion of the abdomen which makes walking difficult at best.

Zhou Zunguo, representative in China for UK-based animal welfare organization Compassion in World Farming, told the Global Times at the conference that the foie gras industry "deprives the animals they farm of any sort of life."

"We cannot help but feel compassionate for the geese, as they are forced to endure absolute misery," Zhou said.

The market

Foie gras production has been prohibited by the European Union due to the cruel and inhumane force-feeding method required to produce the delicacy.

EU members have criticized the industry since 1998 under pressure from animal rights activists, and EU authorities have urged all members, especially France and Hungary - the only two countries that currently produce the food, to end production by 2019.