"The silliest thing the City Council has ever done"

By a 37-6 vote, the Chicago City Council repealed its two-year-old ban on the sale of foie gras, a ban that Mayor Richard M. Daley once called “the silliest thing the City Council has ever done.”

All I can say is, duh. The treatment of geese in the production of foie gras is far better on the whole than animals in factory farms and I would guess no worse, if not better than most smaller farms. Having seen the force feeding of geese on video I see no difference between that and fertilizing cattle or even large scale dairy farms. The production of animals isn't pretty and agribusiness isn't humane to animals, people or the planet. I don't see why foie gras is the key issue, especially as it is largely produced by artisan farmers in France and only recently by the same type of folks in California and New York. I can see the rationale behind the trans fat ban, at least in fast food/chain restaurants, but unless you're going to tackle food politics as a whole I don't see the point of isolating foie gras for debate.

I'm sure Hot Doug's, the only Chicago restaurant slapped with a foie gras fine, will be making up more than its $250 once foie gras is back on the table.