市ｖｓ州、ＮＹフォアグラ論争

【ファーンデール（米国）ＡＦＰ＝時事】世界有数の豊かな食文化を誇る米ニューヨークで、市と州の間でフォアグラをめぐる論争が繰り広げられている。市は動物愛護活動家の後押しを受けている。一方、州はアヒル農家やレストラン経営者を支持している。（写真は、米ニューヨーク州ファーンデールにあるフォアグラ生産農場「ハドソンバレーフォアグラファーム」で飼育されるアヒルの子）
　マンハッタンの高級レストランで食事を楽しんでいたカレン・フロマーさん（７８）は、市当局がフォアグラの流通を禁止しようとしていることについて尋ねると肩をすくめた。「アヒルの餌のやり方ばかりが注目されるけど、子ヒツジの処分とか、巨大な建物に押し込められたニワトリの映像も見ればいいと思う」
　フランスは物議を醸すフォアグラの輸入を停止したため、ニューヨークのフォアグラはすべて州内で生産されている。
　ニューヨーク市議会は動物愛護団体のロビー活動を受け、アヒルやガチョウに強制給餌で肝臓を肥大させ、人間の食用にするフォアグラは残酷だと判断。ビル・デブラシオ前市長は２０１９年１１月、カリフォルニア州に続いてフォアグラの販売、提供、所持を禁止する条例に署名した。３年後の昨年１１月に施行されるはずだったが異議が申し立てられ、現在裁判所が審理している。
　市の条例に異議を唱えたのは、州農業・市場局の支持を受けたレストラン経営者やフォアグラ生産農家だ。
　昨年からビーガン（完全菜食主義者）のエリック・アダムス氏がトップとなった市は今年１月、禁止令を軌道に戻すために州を提訴し、論争はさらに深まった。
　州の二大フォアグラ生産農家の一つ、「ハドソンバレー・フォアグラファーム」のマーカス・ヘンリー副社長（６６）は、マンハッタンから北西に２時間ほどにあるファーンデールの巨大なアヒルとニワトリの飼育場を案内してくれた。ここでは生後３日目から１０５日目で殺処分されるまでのアヒル数万羽が飼われている。
　中南米出身の労働者３２０人を雇用する農場の年間売上高は２５００万ドル（約３３億円）。禁止令が施行されれば、その４分の１を失うことになる。
　「裁判になると、いつも少し心配になる」とヘンリー氏。「（しかし）州が認めている農業地区で、農業に悪影響を及ぼすような市条例を通すことはできない」と力を込めた。
　養鶏場特有の刺激臭が漂う飼育舎で、プラスチック製の管やチューブが付いた器具で、生後３か月のアヒルの口に水に混ぜた穀物が強制的に流し込まれる。
　強制給餌は英国を含む数か国で禁止されているが、ヘンリー氏は経験的に「動物が苦しむことは絶対にない」と主張する。「擬人化するのは簡単だ。（だが）動物と人間は違う」
　一方、ニューヨーク市の条例づくりに取り組んだ動物愛護団体「ボーターズ・フォー・アニマルライツ」の弁護士ブライアン・ピーズ氏は、強制給餌にショックを受けた。「すべての動物は人道的な扱いを受けるに値すると信じている人が大多数だ」
　ピーズ氏は今後数か月で、市の食卓からフォアグラが姿を消すと確信している。しかし、判事らが最終的な判断を下すまで、すべては臆測でしかない。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/04/03-16:47）

In New York, one of the most celebrated culinary centers in the world, a war over foie gras is pitting the city, backed by animal rights activists, against duck farmers and restaurant owners, whose position is supported by the state.
Karen Frommer, enjoying a meal at an upscale restaurant in Manhattan, shrugs when asked about the Big Apple's ban on the sale, consumption and possession of the controversial delicacy.
We will never be able to deal with vegans at all, the 78-year-old tells AFP.
But if they are always focused on the feeding of the ducks, let them watch a film on a slaughtering process of lambs, or housing of chickens in huge buildings, she adds.
The retiree developed a taste for foie gras in southwestern France half a century ago and often eats it terrine, whole or pan-friend at the restaurant 15East @ Tocqueville.
For director Marco Moreira, a Brazilian of Italian origin, It's hard to imagine no fine dining without foie gras.
For now he doesn't have to, as the courts consider a challenge to New York City's ban that was supposed to take effect last November.
All of the foie gras in New York is made exclusively in the state of 20 million people, as France no longer exports the controversial delicacy.
Ex-NYC mayor Bill de Blasio signed off on municipal legislation outlawing foie gras in November 2019, following a similar move in California and after lobbying by animal welfare associations.
Lawmakers ruled it was cruel to force-feed ducks and geese to fatten their livers for human consumption, and the ban prohibiting any establishment from selling, serving or even possessing foie gras was due to take effect three years after its passage.
But last September, New York state's two largest duck farms and foie gras producers -- Hudson Valley Foie Gras Farm and La Belle Farm -- won a stay on the ban from a local court.
Late last year, restaurant owners and farmers then won the support of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, which challenged the legality of New York City's law.
The dispute deepened further when in January the city, led since last year by center-right Democrat and vegan Eric Adams, countered by suing the state to get the ban back in place.
Farmer and producer Marcus Henley is equally certain of his rights, with foie gras legal everywhere else in New York state.
Resembling an old rocker, and with a slow, soft-spoken delivery, the vice president of Hudson Valley Foie Gras Farm gives AFP a tour of his huge duck and chicken operation in Ferndale, two hours northwest of Manhattan.
'Worrisome' -
Employing 320 mostly Latin American farm workers who force-feed, slaughter, bleed, pluck and then remove the livers from the ducks, Henley says he generates $25 million in annual sales.
He would lose a quarter of that if the ban comes into force.
Anytime you go into court, it's always a little worrisome, the 66-year-old says.
(But) you can't pass a local law that negatively impacts farming in a state-certified agricultural district, he adds, showing off pens full of tens of thousands of ducks, which are raised from three days old until they are killed at 105 days.
Under huge, creaking sheds amid a pungent smell typical of poultry farming, three-month-old ducks are force-fed with compressor machines bearing plastic pipes and tubes that send grain mixed with water into their gizzards.
The practice is banned in several countries, including Britain.
I can tell you as a farmer, that, no, absolutely not, the animals don't suffer, insists Henley, who believes the gizzard has a natural storage function.
It's easy to anthropomorphize, says the trained scientist. (But) animals and people are different, he adds.
Bryan Pease, a lawyer for the Voters for Animal Rights association, which worked on the New York law, is shocked by the ducks' treatment.
The vast majority of people believe that all animals deserve to be humanely treated, even animals raised for food, he told AFP.
Pease is convinced that foie gras will disappear from New York City tables for good in a few months.
But until judges rule on the final decision, all predictions are for now just speculation.