City repeals foie gras ban
CITY COUNCIL | Daley rams through repeal of ban on foie gras -- Moore blasts tactics as tough to swallow
The alderman whom Mayor Daley derisively calls Joe "Foie Gras" Moore (49th) now knows how the geese and ducks feel.
Two years after the City Council banned the liver delicacy made by jamming a steel pipe down a bird’s esophagus, Daley essentially did the same to Moore on the City Council floor.
(John H. White/Sun-Times)
By a vote of 37-6, the foie gras ban that Daley claims made Chicago an international laughingstock was repealed, thanks to a legislative end-run that set a new standard for violating protocol and rolling over the opposition.
A repeal ordinance quietly introduced last year and referred to the friendly Rules Committee — bypassing a Health Committee that had approved the foie gras ban — was moved to the Council floor without a hearing, something that is seldom, if ever done.
When Moore objected and tried to exercise his right to postpone the vote, Daley ruled him out of order.
When Moore tried to debate the merits, Daley ruled that the measure was not debatable. He ordered the clerk to call the roll and to continue, even as Moore shouted for the right to be heard.
"If it can happen to me, tomorrow it could happen to you," Moore warned his colleagues.
"Thank you, Ald. Joe ‘Foie Gras’ Moore," Daley said.
After the show of force, Moore denounced the mayor as a dictator and Wednesday’s meeting as a new low.
"Even in the ugliest days of one-man rule, members of the City Council still had the opportunity to ... state their case. For the mayor to fail to recognize me to debate the merits of this issue was the height of arrogance," Moore said.
"The city had placed its mark as a city of compassion, a city that was standing up against [animal] cruelty and it’s taken a giant step backward. But, it’s also taken a giant step backward in ... good old fashioned democracy. ... There was no reason that this issue had to be ramrodded through today," Moore said.
Daley argued that the animal cruelty issue has been debated ad nauseam, that "everybody knew" about the repeal and it was high-time to reverse a foie gras ban that damaged the city’s reputation in international dining circles.
Sheila O’Grady, the former Daley chief of staff now serving as president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, has lobbied for the repeal. Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the former Illinois Restaurant Association chairman who owns Ann Sather’s restaurants, spent hours before the vote buttonholing aldermen on the Council floor.
"They understood what they passed and they corrected it. Simple as that because once you get into every menu item dealing with food, we would be here forever every day debating all types of issues with all types of food. That’s not the role of the City Council," Daley said.
The mayor noted that restaurants have found ways to get around the ban, making a mockery of Moore’s so-called statement against animal cruelty.
"You can buy it in retail. You can bring it with you. They can’t sell it to you, [but] they can put it on your salad and increase [the cost of] your salad by $20. They can put it on a piece of toast and charge you $10. Does that make sense? This is what government should be doing -- telling you what you should be putting on toast or in a salad?" the mayor said.
Foie gras, French for "fatty liver," is produced by force-feeding geese and ducks -- by jamming a steel pipe down a bird’s esophagus three times a day for a month -- to create livers 10 times their normal size. By the time the process is over, the birds can barely walk, let alone breathe.
Julie Janovsky, a spokesperson for the animal protection group Farm Sanctuary, argued that the foie gras ban had "massive public support" and that the City Council’s repeal "effectively endorsed animal cruelty."
"Chicagoans were proud to live in a city that took a stand for humanity. To reverse a compassionate and admirable decision under pressure from political bullies and special interests shows a cowardly brand of cynicism unlike any we have seen in our efforts to give voice to the most vulnerable beings in society -- animals raised for food," Janovsky said.
As for the legislative muscle on display Wednesday, it’s expected to be followed by more of the same.
"Rules and traditions are becoming less important than results. This is just a warm up for the Children’s Museum," said a veteran alderman who asked to remain anonymous.