Threatened stockist scraps pate de foie gras
Friday 11th June 2010, 11:29AM BST.
A Shropshire store owner today claimed he had been “strong-armed” out of selling pate de foie gras after he was harassed at home following an online campaign.
Simon King, who runs the French Pantry in Ludlow, said he would not re-order the pate after his current stock ran out.
He said he had been called anonymously at home and on his mobile and received a threatening e-mail.
He said: “We have been strong-armed out of it, we have not been peacefully persuaded.”
Mr King, who visited his supplier in France to check the welfare of the animals, said he had not changed his mind on the principle and would be taking part in a radio debate on Sunday.
The campaign began on Monday when a Facebook page “We want the French Pantry in Ludlow to stop selling Foie Gras” called for a boycott of the store, along with Ludlow’s two Michelin-starred restaurants, Mr Underhills and La Becasse.
It also told people to boycott Deli on the Square, The Feathers Hotel, Dinham Hall Hotel and Fishmore Hotel. It now has just under 500 members.
Oliver Squire, from Ludlow, who started a petition to go with the Facebook page, said they wanted people to protest politely to retailers. Inspector Ken Mackaill, for south Shropshire police , said they were investigating a complaint.
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Absolutely disgusting! Small business owners deserve our support in rural towns. Do we want big business to take over altogether. And when did birds become more important than the basic human right to feel safe and the right to privacy in your own home. Unbelievable!
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I am sorry to hear of Simons position and it just goes to show how naive & hypocritical some people can be when it comes to food. There are numerous food products and processes on the market that are intensively produced but because of the average knowledge of the consumer they go merrily along with their consumption. Simon, keep stocking it but keep it hush, hush and only tell your regular devotees. I bet they will thank you for it and it will keep the pate producers in business. After all, that’s the excuse the consumers use for buying cheap, sweatshop produced clothing….it gives some poor person a job!!!
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I was so pleased to read about the campaign. Well done for publicising this appalling animal abuse. I hope it will make people more aware. Thanks for the advice about the restaurants, I will make sure I never go to those places again. I already knew about the Deli on the Square. Reading about the campaign makes me want to consider if I will give them my custom in the future. I go there at times for their cheeses, but there other places to get cheese which do not sell pate foie gras. Many thanks again, I no longer feel that I am the only one around here who has these opinions. A final thought, why go to the French Pantry? We produce fantastic food in this country and locally,we don’t need French food, support our own economy and buy British.
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Jennifer,
Why no words about the appalling abuse of the shopkeeper who was, after all, and regardless of your views on pate de foie gras, doing nothing illegal.
Can we assume that you’d be perfectly happy for people to threaten you if they disagreed with some lawful pursuit of your choice?
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A typical response that has tried in a polite manner to say “don’t go to those places, put a black cross on their door”.
The grown up option would be to go to these establishments to buy other products but not buy foie gras. It is all a matter of choice and the freedom to make that choice.
As for the idiots who threaten individuals for selling products they find offensive, this is really is rather a bad way of trying to change things. The only way to deal with bullies is to ignore them or turn the tables on them! These activists are pathetic….
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Thank you for the comment – this is Victoria who is running the campaign along with my friend. Lovely to have support on the issue and its fantastic news that the feathers hotel and De Grays have dropped foie gras due to consummer demand. We are still trying to make the other retailers see. Mr Underhills currently are not serving it though they are not rulling out selling it in future and La Becasse are having a board meeting since they own three restaurants so fingers crossed for that. It was at the Deli on the square that the owner really wants to put profits first and has no intention of stopping to sell. Ive noticed she has a variety of different jars and tins of the stuff in there. Our campaign will continue in the hope that she may realise the concern of the cruelty involved. Hopefully will be able to tackle a lot more retailers in the future. Dont believe a word of this article either. There is no evidence of simon being threatened – this was a peace campaign and he is trying to play the victim. If he had been threatened I am sorry and did not want that, but what is a few emails and phone calls compared to the suffering endured by these animals? thank you again for your comment and support. xxx
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A few emails and phone calls = threats!! You have advocated it and set up a forum for this abuse to take place!
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What are a few emails to your personal email and calls in the middle of the night between friends eh?
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I certainly hope that no other business owner has been threatewned with reprisals sshould they continue to sell this hideously obtained product. Nevertheless, its not a ‘food’ I would myself buy, let alone sell. Hopefully,
those who do sell pate de foie gras will have the heart to stop. SOON.
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The article on the controversy over pate de foie gras in Ludlow is grossly one-sided. The kind of people who apparently behaved in an unacceptable way to Mr King are the enemies, not the friends of the vast majority of animal-lovers who try to prevent cruelty.Oliver Squire,whom I have known since his childhood, would never countenance abuse or violence in any form. Moreover, the abuse is not all on one side. There have been wild accusations of “eco-terrorism” which are totally out of order. We have no wish to harassh shopkeepers, but there is no denying that force-feeding animals to produce foie gras is so cruel that it has been banned in several countries.
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Yes this really is a one sided article based on only claims, very unprofessional for a newspaper to not consider both sides. Thanks Nina and Jenny for the campaign support. And it has been made illegal to produce in 15 countries because of the cruelty
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such a shame
i agree with the campaign, fois gras is disgusting practice, but this is not the way to stop it, have the debate and win the arguement i say like we did with fox hunting, bear bating and the rest
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Of course Oliver Squire wanted people to protest “politely” to retailers.
The problem with well-meaning people like Oliver is that when their campaign is joined by people who are a few sandwiches short of a picnic who don’t mind the idea of using threats of violence or using violence, they say: “Oh. I didn’t think of that.”
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And this is why nobody should ever attempt anything ever. Let that be a lesson to us and future generations.
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I am a French national & have been living in the area for the past 13 years. I do miss some of the French food and I find it fantastic that some local shop actually store some foreign goods. Foie gras in France is a very expensive and fine gourmet item. People don’t buy it like they buy a steak. It is more enjoyed for special occasion meals. Ok, so some people have this view that this is made by being cruel to the animal, so you decide to ban it & harrassed a poor man who is trying to make a living… Come on, have you actually tasted Foie Gras? Does it taste better than the cheap chicken you buy in your supermarket? The same chicken that is intensively grown & cannot actually walk as its legs are too frailed! Is that not cruel to the chicken too???
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It’s the usual British hypocrisy. We’re a nation of animal lovers…… when it suits us.
Foie gras is cruel but fox hunting is jolly good fun….
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It is cruel and it shouldn’t happen in this day and age. But you are absolutely correct, how many of the 500 campaigners on twitterface buy cheap chicken. More than half of them I would guess.
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My point entirely as per my initial post. The ignorant public are very wholesome when it suits them! On a more scientific note, you may all be interested to know that geese gorge themselves on grain to fatten themselves before migration. Some helpful Frenchman is merely helping them along, before they get the chop!..for some glorious foie gras. Seared foie gras with rhubarb is very nice. I’ll cook it for you for £20.00 a portion.
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I was very dissopointed with the article that was published showing accusations which have no evidence. As for the police investigation, I was told by simon he had called the police a few weeks back now and ive not heard anything so we havent done anything wrong. The other retailers have agreed to take foie gras off their menus since (the feathers and De Greys) not due to any ‘alleged’ threat but because of public concern. My beleife is that simon is trying to play the victim and the shropshire star – being an ‘agricultural-type’ news paper decided to side with him. The article should have been unbiassed supporting both sides. And its true what they say – never believe everything you read. As for comments regarding chickens and fox hunting – I hate the cruelty involved here too. I am a vegetarian, but this campaign is focusing on foie gras. If id have done a campaign on chickens people would ask me why we had not done a campaign on fox hunting? there are always going to be critics… but I can assure you, this article is written with no evidence to support it, so dont beleive everything you read. We are just two young people trying to make a stand. Thanks. Victoria. PS – read the advertiser for a better article on this.
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Of course supporters want to urge people to read the article in the Advertiser – it only offers one opinion and it promotes their campign.
No wonder Victoria thinks this is a ‘better’article – the paper does not even bother to ask the retailers what they think!
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And Oliver has the nerve to say this article is biased!!
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Have you read the article Cle? it asks for peoples opinions and gives contact details so that people can give their views. Everything that has been written in the shropshire star has no evidence to prove such ‘alleged threats’ –
I really like to be able to discuss things and hear peoples views on both sides in a rational and reasonale way – the claims made and the article written in the shropshire star are untrue.
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So, it seems, are a lot of the claims you have made about the Fois Gras sold in the French Pantry which, by the way, is not produced in the way that you have portrayed in all your propoganda on leaflets and on facebook. Looks like you need to get your facts straight as well.
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As I keep explaining time and time again, the controversy lies in the forcefeeding. Free range or not these animals suffer.
There is no such thing as ethical foie gras.
An elarged liver to 10x the normal size through forcefeeding through metal tubes shoved five inches down the animals throats is NOT ethical or humane in anyway.
You clearly do not understand what foie gras really is?
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You need to do some more research, or do not imply that they all do the same thing. Some are clearly very diffrent to others. Not all producers use the metal tubes or ‘force’ feed. If you had done some research into this, you would know that, as with anything, there are many different ways of doing things in farming. You have just chosen to highlight the clearly very inhumane way, which is also not advocated by the french pantry. This is fine for your campaign, as i would tend to agree with you, but check what fois gras retailers are actually selling before you set up your encampments. You have gone into this very under informed unfortunately
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This article just goes to show – dont believe everything you read in the papers. Ive been fully involved in the campaign and the accusations of threats etc… are untrue. There were a few abusive comments on both sides as expected but this article is extremely biassed and goes away from the fact that it is a product of extreme cruelty and the campaign is notihng more then a peace protest to stop this horrific product – torture in the tin – from being sold. It has been banned in york and several EU countries have now made it illegal to sell. Shows how bad the product it. I dont believe there were any threats of the sort – simon is trying to play the victim but at the end of the day it is the animals who are.
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Just think it would be polite to find out the facts of each different retailer, wihtout tarring all with the same brush and harrassing people to think the same way as you, when they don’t want to. We live in a free world where people can make their own decisions without being bullied into it by ‘peaceful’ protesters.
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Thank you Chloe for your comments. Retailers have not been threatened and harrassed but have been politely asked to stop selling foie gras. I had a chat with simon about it and although they appear ‘free-range’ happy geese in the pitcures shown simon did not disagree with me when I said to him I believed the animals still suffered. He said that his products were not sourced from some of the horrific pictures of animals found on the internet but still agreed that there is suffering involved and they are only free-range up until being forcefed which im sure involves caging the birds and shoving food down there throats – by hand or machince either way i dont feel that this could possibly be humane. Thank you for expressing your opinions on this but I can assure you that ive done loads of research and I know that these animals do suffer. There is a spanish alternative where the birds feed themselves before they migrate but simon told me this was too expensive. We didnt threaten anyone and merely asked him along with other retailers to consider the cruelty involved – which even simon did not deny himself and to remove this one product off there shelves. I dont see that it would have a major detrimental effect to profits by removing one product. I just dont understand why anyone would want to eat something that involves so much pain and suffering. Also, Ive noticed other retailers claiming there foie gras to be ‘ethical’ there really is no such thing. The animals do suffer immense pain – largely due to there enlarged livers that become so enlarged to cause severe abdominal pain and disease. When humans get liver disease we are fed high doses of pain killers to help us deal with it – these animals are not, and that is exactly what foie gras is – a diseased and enlarged liver. So please re-consider your views and I will continue to stick to the central point that force-feeding is cruel, inhumane and definatley not ethical. Why is something so cruel necessary in this day and age anyway??? this world is full of so many wonderful things to eat, is foie gras that tastey that its worth the pain these animals go through? I am supprised that any human being can be in support of such cruelty.
thanks for your opinions though. Its always good to have a discussion! x
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‘which i’m sure involves’ is not factual Vicky…do your research!! Unlucky for you, some other people have!
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Blocked because i am supporting the shropshire star? What are you trying to do to your loyal readers?
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Ironically, my last comments were blocked because they contained comments about freedom of speech and action..can you believe it?! In this day and age…yes!
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It has been very interesting following the comments on the radio, net, etc., of those that support the production of Foie gras. Every person defending this cruel practice has steered well clear of the central issue; that of forcing the geese and ducks mouths open, forcing food down their throats to expand their livers to a painful, unhealthy size, for the ‘pleasure’ of the consumer. Everyone defending this practice has either gone on about the fact that some are free range therefore it’s ok, ‘ethical’ or that, retailers have received threats, etc., The people who brought this to the attention of shoppers have always been consistently polite, simply bringing this practice to the attention of people, so that people can make up their own minds. If some idiots make threats to retailers, then that is wrong, but many people yet again use this to steer people away from the central thesis. You either care or you don’t, that’s the central issue here, so stop insulting people’s intelligence by constantly steering the debate away from the issue.
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So glad to have heard about the foie gras campaign and that I now know where it is/was sold and wont be shopping there in future. I will be able to get my cheese elsewhere anyway. well done Victoria and Oliver for bringing this to our attention.
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