OUR CAMPAIGN TO END FORCE-FEEDING CONTINUES…
The Olympics has begun and the Olympic Organizing Committee has allowed foie gras to remain on its menu. But the fight to end force-feeding is not over…
For months, we campaigned tirelessly to remove foie gras from the Olympics’ VIP hospitality menu.
Over 70,000 people signed our petition urging the International Olympic Committee and Paris 2024 Organising Committee to get foie gras made by force-feeding out of the Olympics.
Animal Equality wrote two open letters to the Olympic organisers, with one being signed by dozens of high-profile Olympic medalists, academics, and veterinarians.
Advocates sent over 15,000 emails to the organisers and pleaded on social media, urging the Games’ hospitality chefs to denounce foie gras.
Mainstream media outlets like The Independent, Forbes, and Le Monde – one of France’s leading networks – covered the issue.
Finally, we went directly to the Committee in Paris to deliver the petition signatures and call on them to make a change.
Initially we were met with silence. Then finally, the Committee replied, but only to absolve themselves of responsibility and shift the blame.
The athletes will march, the flags will wave, and an electrifying atmosphere will fill the air.
Yet, behind this spectacle, a darker story has already unfolded – a story that we at Animal Equality has tried desperately to change.
In the hidden corners of foie gras farms, ducks and geese have been force-fed and slaughtered for the meals of VIP guests.
Leading up to the Games, tubes were forcefully shoved down their throats. Their final moments were spent longing for freedom – a freedom that never came.
The Olympic Organizing Committee chose to turn their backs on ducks and geese who are force-fed, but we will not.
Our fight to end force-feeding around the world continues.
Animal Equality is campaigning to end force-feeding in the US. If you haven’t done so, sign our petition here.
ANIMAL EQUALITY’S FOIE GRAS INVESTIGATIONS
Animal Equality has conducted over a dozen investigations into this industry in France and Spain since 2012. The group has gathered hundreds of hours of footage revealing birds confined in wire cages, suffering from breathing difficulties, eye infections, and broken wings and beaks. In late 2023, Animal Equality shared never-before-seen footage shot by our investigators.
The distressing images featured below are a reminder of how urgent the need is to ensure that foie gras is kept off of all restaurant menus, including those at grand events like the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Warning: the following images are graphic
“The Olympics are a beacon of international unity, human accomplishment, and friendship. To serve foie gras – a product that is elitist, cruel to animals, and illegal to produce by force-feeding in many countries – is disappointing to anyone who believes in equality and solidarity and goes against the spirit of the Games”
Sharon Núñez
President and Co-Founder
Animal Equality
“To envisage attendees eating the diseased liver of a tortured duck or goose at the Olympic Games is jarring, to say the least. I too am immensely proud of my French heritage, but I am certainly not proud of the force-feeding of innocent animals, and the Committee shouldn’t be either”
Alexis Gauthier
Michelin-starred French gastronomic chef
“The Games offer a unique opportunity for the world to come together, but foie gras is an incredibly divisive dish. By putting more plants on plates, the 2024 Paris Olympics gives a glimpse into a kinder, more sustainable future; that future must not include foie gras. The Committee should focus on celebrating our shared international interests: animal cruelty is not one of those interests. I strongly urge the Committee to see reason and remove it from the menu”
Abigail Penny
Executive Director
Animal Equality UK
CAMPAIGN TIMELINE
July 26TH, 2024
The Olympics began and the Olympic Organising Committee chose to leave foie gras on the VIP menus; in doing so, the Committee turned its back on ducks and geese. But we will not! Our fight to end force-feeding around the world continues.
July 22nd, 2024
Animal Equality and our supporters took to the streets of Paris to inform unsuspecting members of the public about the cruelties involved in foie gras production, raising awareness of the force-feeding practices involved. We proudly visited the Olympic organizers’ headquarters to hand in over 60,000 petition signatures gathered by Animal Equality’s team of professional activists, giving the Committee a final opportunity to do the right thing and remove foie gras from the hospitality menu. Later that evening, we shone a light on the cruelty involved in foie gras made by force-feeding by taking to the streets of Paris and projecting our important message on buildings all across the city.
Meanwhile, supporters took to Instagram to send thousands of messages to the chefs involved in the Olympic games hospitality packages, urging them to use their position to help ducks and geese. With just days until the Games’ begin, we implore the Committee to see reason and to listen to the experts; they must not condone this extreme animal cruelty! Read more here.
July 19th, 2024
With momentum building, and the commencement of the Games edging ever closer, Animal Equality coordinated an online action sharing a delicious plant-based faux gras recipe with the Committee Members and head chefs involved in the creation of the Olympic Games’ menus. With over 1,000 supporters sending a recipe postcard to the Games’ leadership, we showed that there is no need for foie gras made by force-feeding to feature on the menu.
Try a faux gras recipe!
JULY 15th, 2024
Amidst growing public outcry, and tens of thousands of signatures pouring into the public Animal Equality petition, supporters and concerned members of the public rallied together to contact key Olympic Games decision-makers through a mass email action. With thousands taking part, our important message in defense of animals is louder than ever before!
June 18TH, 2024
In a bid to remove foie gras made by force-feeding from the hospitality menu – a collective of concerned world-leading sustainability experts, animal protection academics, environmentalists, athletes and animal advocates wrote a joint open letter to encourage Olympic Games’ organizers and chefs to remove the dish from an event that they say ‘inspires the world to accomplish wondrous things’.
The letter outlined why foie gras production has been widely criticized for decades, emphasizing the fact that it causes extreme harm to animals, is exclusionary and divisive, is responsible for environmental degradation, poses risks to individual health and global public health, and is unnecessary in a world where an abundance of plant-based alternatives exist. Read the letter.
April 2024
Acknowledging the positive strides made by the International Olympics Committee this year, with 60% of the menu now plant-based, Animal Equality is respectfully urging Committee members to remove foie gras made by force-feeding from the hospitality menu.
Our President and Co-Founder, Sharon Núñez, penned a letter urging the Committee to reconsider this menu choice and extended an invitation to the event’s leadership for a pragmatic and compassionate discussion on the subject matter.
CHOOSE PLANT-bASED
The best thing you can do to help these sensitive and intelligent individuals is to not eat them.
And, with plenty of compassionate alternatives to foie gras, including Alexis Gauthier’s plant-based pâté recipe – this couldn’t be easier!
SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGNS AND INVESTIGATIONS
With your support, we will continue working to create a future where animals are free from suffering.