all-creatures.org
SHOOTING OURSELVES IN THE FOOT
The Sanitizing of Violence in Our Society
By: Frank L. Hoffman flh@all-creatures.org
©1998-2000 - The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation
Throughout the ages, we have accepted killing, violence, and violent behavior as just being a part of life - it's time we change!
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SANITIZED ADVERTISING:
The Foie Gras Lie
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. 
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.
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.
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.
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