Get Foie Gras Out Of The Olympics
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Demand that foie gras is taken off of the Olympic Games hospitality menu.
FOIE GRAS SPOTTED ON MENU AT THE OLYMPICS
From 26th July to 11th August, Paris will be hosting the 2024 Olympic Games, an event dedicated to promoting sportsmanship, unity and this year, sustainability. The International Olympic Committee has a commendable aim: to ‘deliver a taste of France in a responsible manner’ and has pledged to make 60% of the 13 million meals on offer plant-based. This is a serious step forward for animals, which shows progress.
However, the Committee has allowed foie gras to make its way onto the hospitality menu, which is reserved for the Games’ highest-paying guests.
Foie gras, often served in the form of a liver pâté, is made by brutally force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers swell to ten times their natural size. It symbolises controversy and immense animal cruelty. Annually, millions of innocent birds suffer extreme physiological and psychological torment for the ‘production’ of this vile product.
With ducks and geese confined in tiny, unsanitary, cages, the ‘production’ of foie gras is not only cruel but also poses significant health risks. These farms act as breeding grounds for dangerous diseases like avian flu and are inherently unsustainable.
Given this needless cruelty involved and the number of reported disease outbreaks, it is unsurprising that many countries – including the UK, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Norway, Italy, Luxembourg, India and Turkey – have outlawed foie gras production made by force feeding.
The Olympic Committee’s decision to serve this contradicts their intended event ethos; foie gras is neither responsible nor sustainable.
While the Committee has undoubtedly made positive strides for animals, to allow cruel foie gras to be served cannot go unchallenged. With 15,000 athletes, 45,000 volunteers, 13.4 million tickets sold, and 25,000 media professionals present, we have a unique opportunity to show the world how awful foie gras made by force-feeding truly is and demand its removal from the Olympics’ hospitality menu.
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
PROGRESS SO FAR
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. In April, our President and Co-Founder, Sharon Núñez, wrote 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.
YOU CAN HELP DUCKS AND GEESE
While we are waiting for a response from the International Olympics Committee members and planning next steps, there are other key actions that you can take to help ducks and geese. You might not be an Olympic Gold Athlete, but right now, you have an opportunity to get active for animals.
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. For a limited time, your impact for animals is doubled, with all monthly donations matched dollar for dollar for a full year.
