Giving Compass' Take:

• Sam Bloch from The New Food Economy reports that legislators are wanting to ban foie gras in New York City saying it’s an animal welfare issue, however, duck farmers argue that we aren’t getting the whole picture.

• How can philanthropy help to support farmers that utilize environmentally-friendly methods? 

• Here are 9 reasons why plant-based meat is the food of the future. 

New York City wants to ban foie gras, and duck farmers aren’t happy about it. A bill sponsored by Carlina Rivera, a city councilwoman who represents Manhattan neighborhoods, would prohibit the sale of the delicacy, and levy fines of up to $1,000 to businesses that violate the ban.

“What I am trying to do is put forward a bill that would end this practice and create a more humane New York City to live in,” said Rivera, during a City Council committee hearing in June, Crain’s New York reports. The animal welfare bill, which specifically targets “force-fed products,” is co-sponsored by the majority of the council.

There are only three farms that raise foie gras in the United States, and two of them are in Ferndale, New York, a rural community in the Catskills, 90 miles outside of New York City
As you likely know, foie gras (fatty liver in French) is made by force-feeding grain to ducks and geese, several times a day, for up to three weeks. Their livers then expand up to ten times their normal size, with large deposits of fat—which is why it’s so rich.

Read the full article on banning foie gras by Sam Bloch at The New Food Economy.