“We absolutely do not injure our animals”, assures the president of the Landes chamber of agriculture

“We absolutely do not hurt our animals, we do not hurt them at all“, replied this Monday on franceinfo Marie-Hélène Cazubon, the president of the Landes chamber of agriculture and herself a duck breeder, to elected environmentalists who are banning foie gras from their town hall.

franceinfo: What do you think of the decision of several green mayors to ban foie gras from their town hall?

It’s a shame because they do not know what they are depriving themselves of, it is a really tasty dish. If they really knew how we work and what we do on our farms, they wouldn’t be talking about animal welfare. The first thing we do on our farms is of course to ensure the comfort of the animals. Foie gras comes from a liver which is fattened, that is to say which stores fat. It is a totally natural phenomenon that we reproduce in our farms.

Do you think that force-feeding is not painful for the animals?

We absolutely do not hurt our animals, we do not hurt them at all. Duck morphology is far adapted to feeding animals the way we do. It’s really scientifically recognized. There is absolutely no trauma to the animal. These are animals that are used to seeing us on a daily basis. It is a gesture that lasts a few seconds, morning and evening. It is a natural and reversible phenomenon. If we released our animals into the wild, the fat stored in their livers would melt away, because these are the stores animals make for food.

Are you not worried that these increasingly frequent criticisms will weaken sales of foie gras?

I had seen a survey which said that 95% of people liked foie gras [93% des Français en consomment selon un sondage du CSA pour le Comité interprofessionnel des palmipèdes à foie gras (Cifog) en 2017]. So me, rather than looking at what some say who criticize our way of working without knowing it, I prefer to trust the 95% of French people who love our products, who love our traditions.