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France Questions the Foie Gras Tradition

By Eleanor Beardsley
Published January 20, 2005 at 12:00 AM EST
Claude Saint Blancard demonstrates how a duck is force fed in order to produce foie gras.
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR
Claude Saint Blancard demonstrates how a duck is force fed in order to produce foie gras.

While America feasted on turkey and cranberries over the holidays, no French table was without the traditional dish of foie gras. Literally translated, foie gras means "fat liver" and is the fattened liver of ducks and geese that have been overfed. While the creamy, pâté-like product is a billion-dollar industry in France, some are beginning to question the ethics behind its production. Eleanor Beardsley reports.

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Eleanor Beardsley
Eleanor Beardsley began reporting from France for NPR in 2004 as a freelance journalist, following all aspects of French society, politics, economics, culture and gastronomy. Since then, she has steadily worked her way to becoming an integral part of the NPR Europe reporting team.