Michael Ginor
Founder and President of Hudson Valley Foie Gras
Michael joined The Guys to talk about foie gras from breeding to marketing. Ginor says, "We use everything but the quack" said.
Several states, including New York, are looking at banning the production of foie gras. Animal rights activists, who are well organized, want the production of foie gras banned because of the "force feeding" of the animals. Michael Ginor explains that this is a process that occurs naturually with the animals - they gorge themselves twice a year in preparation for long mirgrations. The ducks at Hudson Valley Foie Gras roam freely and are hand-fed. The company has a 300 to 1 ratio of ducks to handlers, compared to 30,000-1 at agri-business chicken farms so says Ginor. The mortality rate of foie gras ducks at his farm is 3-5%. Agri-business chickens can approach 30%. So which is crueler to animals?
Tne New York State Assembly was scheduled to vote on legislation banning foie gras production in New York. The measure was tabled at the last minute. Michael discusses the political situation, animal rights activists, Charlie Trotter and trying to keep his business in America and not move it to Canada
MP3 Available: Click here to listen, right click to download.
- You can voice your opinion to your state legislators especially if you live in New York State.: hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com
Podcast Date: 7/19/2005