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Westside Market Takes Stand Against Animal Cruelty, Signs Farm Sanctuary's "No Foie Gras" Pledge

New York – September 29, 2008 – Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, today thanked all three Westside Markets in New York City – located in Chelsea, Upper Westside and Upper Westside Morning Heights – for signing pledges to not sell foie gras based on ethical concerns. Westside Market joins more than 50 New York City establishments that have pledged to end their sale of this notoriously cruel product.

“After learning about how foie gras is produced, Westside Market has decided we will no longer support such activities by selling foie gras,” said Ian Joskowitz, general manager for the Morning Heights store. Westside Market has built a solid reputation since 1965, becoming an integral part of life on the Upper Westside for many New Yorkers. 

“By signing Farm Sanctuary’s ‘No Foie Gras’ pledge, Westside Market recognizes that what they choose to stock on their shelves is an ethical decision, resulting in real consequences for animals,” states Farm Sanctuary Director of Campaigns Julie Janovsky, “They are joining an esteemed list of more than 1000 restaurants and supermarkets nationwide that have taken an ethical stance against foie gras production, based on animal cruelty.”

Foie gras (French for “fatty liver”) is the liver of a duck or goose who has been force fed until the liver expands up to 10 times its normal size. During the force-feeding process, workers shove a pipe down the birds' throats and force them to ingest up to one-third of their own body weight daily. This force-feeding causes the painful liver disease, hepatic lipidosis. The hugely-swollen livers of birds in foie gras production push against other organs, causing extreme respiratory stress, and most birds have trouble walking. Necropsies on foie gras birds have shown grossly-enlarged livers, lacerated tracheas and esophagi, pneumonia, throats and gullets severely impacted with undigested corn, and massive internal bacterial and fungal growth. A 2007 Farm Sanctuary investigation at one of the largest foie gras production facilities in Canada revealed that the female ducklings – whose livers are deemed unsuitable for foie gras production – are gassed, or suffocated, to death in plastic bags shortly after hatching.

A 2006 Zogby International poll found that three out of four likely voters (77 percent) favor an all out ban on foie gras in New York State, where legislation is pending to outlaw the production of this product. California and more than a dozen European countries, as well as Israel, once the world's third-largest producer of foie gras, have taken the lead in banning this egregiously cruel “delicacy.” Most recently, South Africa has declared it illegal as well, based on humane concerns. In April 2008, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production released the most comprehensive independent research report to date on animal agriculture in the United States that included a recommendation to ban the practice of force feeding birds to produce foie gras.

Farm Sanctuary’s No Foie Gras Campaign has influenced more than 1000 restaurants nationwide to sign pledges to no longer serve foie gras, as well as major grocery chains including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. More information about foie gras, including independent research reports on the subject can be found at www.nofoiegras.org.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at http://www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.