Keep off the gras: New Jersey vs. duck liver.NO ONE IN the state of New Jersey produces foie gras foie gras (fwä grä) [Fr.,=fat liver], livers of artificially fattened geese. Ducks and chickens are also sometimes used in the making of foie gras. , and no Garden State farmer has announced any plans to start force-feeding ducks or selling liver pate. But that hasn't stopped two members of the state Assembly from proposing legislation to regulate the process and ban the pricey snack. Foie gras makers have been on the run in Europe and the U.S. for more than a decade. Before New Jersey got into the game, the process of producing the food had been banned in most of Western Europe Western Europe The countries of western Europe, especially those that are allied with the United States and Canada in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (established 1949 and usually known as NATO). , Poland, Finland, and Israel. In April 2006, the city of Chicago passed a ban on foie gras that drew immediate criticism from Mayor Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party and current mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. and local gourmet chefs. Windy City restaurants protested by serving foie gras and other forbidden foods in August. But for New Jersey Assemblyman Michael Panter, the ban was an inspiration, not a provocation. He joined with fellow Democratic legislator LEGISLATOR. One who makes laws. 2. In order to make good laws, it is necessary to understand those which are in force; the legislator ought therefore, to be thoroughly imbued with a knowledge of the laws of his country, their advantages and defects; to Joan Voss Joan Voss (b. August 21 1940, New York City) serves in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 38th legislative district. She has served in the Assembly since 2004. to write a measure prohibiting "the force feeding of ducks, geese and other poultry for the production of foie gras" and began drafting another bill banning the production, distribution, and sale of foie gras anywhere in the state. Panter, a vegetarian, has rebuffed concerns from a New Jersey-based distributor who supplies chefs in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of with foie gras produced elsewhere. When asked if the legislator might one day target other foods on the grounds of cruelty, Panter's office is noncommittal. "I think this is one of the issues he'd like to address first," says spokesperson Kerri Danskin. "Overall, he's an advocate for animals." |
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