In response to a lot of local concern about the sale of foie gras on animal welfare grounds, B&NES Council has given assurances to the Vegetarian International Voice for Animals (Viva!) lobby group about the use of the delicacy on its properties throughout Bath and the surrounding area.
Councillor Paul Crossley (Lib-Dem), Leader of Council, has written to the people who presented a petition calling for a sales ban. He said, “Although Bath & North East Somerset Council does not currently sell Foie Gras on its premises, we would like to reassure people we will not be doing so in the future. Much of the industry is simply torture in a tin for the ducks force fed vast quantities of food through a metal tube so that their livers swell up to ten times their natural size. This is cruel, inhumane, and the so-called delicacy has no place in the Council’s current or future food sales.
“In relation to our commercial premises which are leased by third party caterers, future leases will contain a sub clause requesting them to ban the sale of foie gras, although we cannot retrospectively enforce a new clause in existing leases.”
Justin Kerswell and Megan Lebasci presented the petition of 1,890 signatures urging the Council ‘to ban the sale of foie gras from all Council-owned premises and from private businesses and food outlets in the City of Bath and to take a number of other measures to raise awareness of the methods used to produce foie gras.’
