Published Letters and Op-Eds from
COK’s Writers Group

Gorging Geese

It is shameful that Pamela Wischkaemper, a food consultant, hasn't given much thought to how geese are treated ("I Want My Foie Gras," June 24). The sad truth is that ducks and geese raised to produce foie gras suffer an invasive feeding technique that forces into their stomachs up to 30 percent of their body weight every day until their now-diseased livers have grown to more than 10 times their normal size. That's like a 200-pound man being forced to swallow 60 pounds of food a day. Because of the suffering it causes, the force-feeding of birds has been outlawed in at least a dozen countries. California did the right thing in banning this cruel practice.

Mark Hawthorne
Rohnert Park