New York City just said au revoir to (most) foie gras. On Wednesday, the New York City Council voted to pass legislation banning the sale of the controversial culinary product in the five boroughs of the city (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx.) The ban–which will go into effect in 2022–follows a 2012 one implemented by the state of California, and was sponsored by over half the New York City Council members as part of a larger animal welfare-related legislative initiative.
While many foreign countries, including Italy, have long-banned the production of foie gras, those laws have not always extended to the importing or sale of the product, so you may still find it on the shelves of gourmet shops or on the menus of high-end restaurants in those locations. New York City’s, however, will impose a $2,000 fine on any sale of the item—though only foie gras that has been created in the traditional method, by the forced feeding of ducks and geese to fatten their livers. While not all foie gras is made in what the primary sponsor of the bill describes as this “inhumane” and “violent” way, the bulk of what is produced in the U.S. is, so the impact on farmers—particularly those in areas close to New York City, like the Hudson Valley—is expected to be notable. Delaying the implementation of the ban until 2022 gives these purveyors time to make changes in their production models.
The impact on restaurants in New York City that feature foie gras (which The New York Times estimates to be around 1,000 establishments) remains to be seen. At the moment, we’ve spotted the ingredient on the menus of several Italian restaurants in the city, including Scarpetta (which features a duck and foie gras ravioli) and Ai Fiori, which serves seared Hudson Valley foie gras with fig, hazelnut and toasted brioche. With such creative chefs behind these and other high-end Italian restaurants, though, we are sure they will find creative, delicious—and less ethically troubling—alternatives to foie gras.