Shooting Ourselves in the FootSanitized Advertising - The Foie Gras Lie
A Shooting Ourselves in the Foot: The Sanitizing of Violence in Our Society Article from All-Creatures.org

Throughout the ages, we have accepted killing, violence, and violent behavior as just being a part of life - it's time we change!

By: Frank L. Hoffman

ducks duck ani When we first began to do some research into the production of Foie Gras, we decided to surf the Internet to see what the producers had to say.  One of the first things we saw were the images of living ducks to help promote the companies' products, as though the ducks were happy to become Foie Gras.

On some web sites,  these producers will show a gourmet place setting or plate featuring Foie Gras, or they will show an aerial view of their farm, or a picture of their kitchen. Foie Gras 3 One company even dared to show the inside of a barn with their ducks in a fairly crowded but "free" condition; however, none of these web sites would dare to show the horrors that take place in bringing Foie Gras to the table.  They wouldn't dare show these ducks in small cages for the last month of their lives while they are being forced fed.

Foie Gras is a pate made form the grossly enlarged livers of ducks and geese, a "diseased" condition in which fat accumulates in the liver.   This is caused by the forced feeding of these loving and feeling birds. Foie Gras 1 Just by looking at the comparative size of a healthy liver on the left, and the engorged and fat laden liver on the right (in the photo to the left), should tell us that the duck or goose from whom it came was suffering.  It's time for us to begin to put ourselves in the position of these ducks and geese, and visualize what we would feel like if our liver were forced to become enlarged to 10 times it normal size within our bodies over the next month.

Foie Gras 4r We may like to over feed ourselves at a party or outing where there is a lot of good food, and often we suffer because of it.  We need to think how we would feel if we were forced to eat this way at every meal, and with no variety in our food.  And because we couldn't bring ourselves to eat this way, a giant would come along with a large funnel and force the neck of the funnel down our throats and then force the food into our stomachs, and they would do this to us three or more times a day.  We would be in agony!  We would feel like these ducks and geese whose only release from their pain and suffering comes in their death.

To hide the truth, in my opinion, is a form of lying, particularly when it depicts a condition that is opposite to the truth.  Why do these companies get away with this?  Because the whole animal agriculture industry has been allowed to hide the truth of the pain, suffering and death that goes on out of the sight of the general public.

It's time we start demanding the whole truth in advertising, and not just selectively, but with every product that is in the market.  But unfortunately this is unlikely to happen any time soon, because most people want the truth hidden from them, so they can continue to contribute to the pain and suffering in "ignorance", and so that they don't have to change their way of life or their eating habits.  In other words, we want to lie to ourselves and have others lie to us about the "unpleasant" things in life.

It's time we stop shooting ourselves in the foot by sanitizing violence in our society, for as long as we sanitize it in one area, we contribute to the increase in violence in other areas of our society.

Go on to: SANITIZED ADVERTISING: The Hatfield Pig
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