7 Reasons Why We Should Stop Eating Foie Gras

Foie gras is a subject of great interest to both animal rights activists and foodies alike, and for good reason: not only is fattened goose liver considered a fine delicacy in the fine food world, but it’s also regarded as anathema to standards of human decency when it comes to treatment of animals.

鹅肝对于动物权益保护者和美食家来说，是一种让他们很感兴趣的对象，他们有着很好的理由：肥鹅肝不仅不认为是美食世界里的一道美味，在谈到如何对待动物时，它还被看作是对人类道德标准的严重玷污。

1.Fatty Food is Bad for Your Heart

含脂肪食物对心脏有害

Cardiovascular disease is the primary source of death in this country, so you might want to reconsider taking a bite of that fatty liver.Any food that gets over 80% of its calories from fat should probably be eaten very sparingly, if at all.One possible silver lining to all that fat is the fact that, surprisingly, foie gras is composed largely of the ‘good’ kind of fat—with approximately two-thirds monounsaturated and one third saturated fat.Because of this, its fat profile has more in common with avocado or olive oil than lard or butter.Still, considering that there is over twelve grams of fat per one ounce, you should remember that, at the end of the day, fat is fat.

心血管疾病是这个国家的主要死亡来源，所以你可能要重新考虑吃不吃肥鹅肝了。任何超过80%的能量都来自其脂肪的食物都应该即使不是一点儿不吃的话，也要极少吃。对其脂肪的一点儿好处就是，肥鹅肝惊人地大部分由“好”脂肪构成——大约三分之二的单不饱和脂肪，大约三分之一的饱和脂肪。因为这，它的脂肪分布与猪油、黄油相比，更与牛油或橄榄油相同。但你仍要考虑到每盎司十二克的脂肪，你应该记住，在一天结束时，脂肪就是脂肪。

2.It’s Bad for the Environment

对环境有害

Well, in general. That is, not surprisingly, crowded feed pens full of ducks or geese is not beneficial for the health of the soil, nor is it good for air quality when methane rises into the atmosphere as a result of the refuse from large numbers of animals and their unavoidably large quantities of waste.Of course, there are small scale ranchers and farmers who raise animals using environmentally sustainable methods. They tend to be the types of sustainable folks who practice crop rotation, grow produce, and raise animals at a small enough scale that they are helping, not harming, the soil and the water supply.

大体上这样。也就是，不用惊讶，拥挤的畜栏里面充满了鸭鹅，这既不利于土壤，也不利于空气质量，甲烷会从大量动物和它们不可避免的大量粪便中产生，释放到大气中。当然，有小部分农场主和农民用环保可持续的方法喂养动物。他们往往以一种足够小规模的方式实行轮作，种植生产、饲养动物，他们是在帮助，而不是伤害土壤和水资源。

3.Animal Welfare

动物福利

The method of producing such fatty livers usually involves artificially feeding geese or ducks using a tube.The reason it is considered inhumane is because the animals are force-fed!As a result, the livers grow much past their normal size.At their largest, geese are unable to walk easily.In order to produce foie gras, it’s necessary to feed the geese an unusual amount of grain.The large amounts of feed—usually in the form of corn inserted into the esophagus with the use of a long tube—fatten the liver more than would occur naturally if the geese were feeding themselves.

生产这种肥鹅肝的方法通常是用一根管子人工喂养鸭鹅。它被认为是不人道的原因是动物被强迫喂食！结果，动物会比它们正常的尺寸大许多。在它们最大的时候，鹅都不能正常走路。为了生产肥鹅肝，必须要给鹅喂更多量的粮食。大量喂养——通常是以将玉米用一根长管喂入食道的方式进行——这比鹅自然吃食产生的脂肪更多。

It’s important to note that there are some producers of foie gras who don’t force feed their birds—namely Eduardo Sousa, a Spanish farmer who grows olives and figs on his property.Sousa says his geese naturally gorge themselves without having to be force fed because, a.) there is an abundance of food on his property, and, b.) the geese, genetically speaking, believe they’re about to begin a very long trip north, by air—that is, if domestic geese are bred with wild geese.

要注意到有些肥鹅肝的生产者不强迫喂养鹅——图瓦多•索萨，一个在自己土地上种植橄榄和无花果的西班牙农民。索萨说他的鹅之所以自然吃食而不是强迫喂食是因为，a）他的土地上有很多食物，而且，b)从基因上说，鹅相信它们将要开始一个很长的北方旅行，飞行——也就是，如果国内鹅能和野生鹅一起吃食的话。

However, humanely-raised geese who aren’t force-fed are few and far between, so you’ll probably have to go to relatively great lengths in order to obtain ethically-produced foie gras.

然而，那些人工喂养但不强迫喂食的鹅很少相对也远，所以为了获得良心生产的肥鹅肝，你可能不得不去相对远的地方。

4.It’s Too Expensive

太贵了

This reason is self-explanatory, but foie gras averages $50 a pound.That, alone, might seem enough to boycott the delicacy—even if only because of necessity.However, another reason to snub your nose at the high price is because, after considering the current state of the economy and how many people must go with adequate food and water on a daily basis, can you really justify such an expensive meal?

这一原因是不言自明的，鹅肝平均每磅50美元。只这一个似乎足以让你抵制美味，即使只是因为你必须必要。然而，另一个让你对此高价摇头的原因是，鉴于目前的经济状况，许多人必须为日常充足的食物水奋斗，你真的能吃这么贵的食物吗？

If you’d like some concrete examples of extremely extravagant menu items, check out this Fleur Burger.It stands out as especially ludicrous since its wagyu beef, foie gras, and truffle ingredients, along with the accompaniment of a 1996 Château Pétrus, bring to total $5,000.

如果你想要一些非常奢侈的菜单项目中的具体例子，看看这个 芙蓉汉堡。 它脱颖而出，特别是由于它含着神户牛肉，鹅肝酱，和松露，随着一曲1996 CHâteau PéTRUS的伴奏，总计要花你5000美元。

5.Doesn’t Liver Taste Funny, Anyhow?

无论如何，肝脏尝起来味道都有点儿怪吧？

Apparently it is nutritious as a source of B vitamins and iron.However, think about it for a second: liver is the 'strainer’ of the body.It filters all the nutrients through itself, retaining all that is indigestible before sending it on into the intestines and the rest of the digestive track.When you think of it that way, it doesn’t really sound appealing, does it

作为维生素B和铁元素的来源，它明显是有营养价值的。然而，再考虑一下吧：肝脏是人体的“过滤器”。它通过自己过滤所有营养，在送到肠胃和消化道其余部分前，它保留所有难消化的食物。当你考虑到这个时，它听起来真的不会吸引人，是吧？

6.Bottom Line: There are Better Things to Eat

底线：有更好的东西能吃

At the end of the day, I’d rather eat traditional cuts of lamb, beef, or duck than fattened goose liver.There are simply more appealing choices out there.It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that not only is foie gras an expensive habit to adopt, but at the end of the proverbial day, you’ll be both thinner and less plagued with doubts and guilty nightmares about tortured birds if you skip the foie gras and reach for an avocado, instead!

在一天结束的时候，我更愿意吃传统的羊肉、牛绒或鸭子，而不是肥鹅肝。明明有更吸引人的选择。并不需要一个外科医生指出，我们都知道肥鹅肝不仅是一种昂贵的选择，而且在一天结束时，如果你能不吃肥鹅肝而代替的吃个鳄梨的话，你会更苗条，更少对所吃鹅是否被虐待过的怀疑内疚之情。