The Dordogne region in southwestern France is known for a very special delicacy： foie gras. The Lasserre family in the town of Marquay has been producing it with geese for decades. They allow their geese free range for three months; then the birds are penned and force-fed corn for the last three weeks of their lives.

Kléber Lasserre： （via translator） The corn kernels are soaked in water and fat is added. That way they slide down the birdsthroats better.

These geese are being prepared to meet demand for Christmas. They get corn forced down their throats three times a day. Ginette Lasserre： （via translator）You have to be careful so you dont injure the animals. If a goose tenses up from fear， we massage its neck until it relaxes， and we can slip the pipe down its throat. Our goal is for the birds to put on weight quickly. At the start of the fattening period， they weigh around six kilos. Three weeks later， theyre nine kilos， and their livers weigh 800 to 900 grams.

And its that liver， enlarged five times its normal weight， thats the point of this all. Its considered a highlight of French cuisine. The majority of foie gras comes not from small farms， but from large agricultural businesses.

Animal welfare activists consider foie gras production to be pure cruelty. Force-feeding to produce foie gras is prohibited in 17 countries. And because foie gras is produced in such large quantities in France， French farmers are fighting against damage to their image.

At this experimental farm run by the Chamber of Agriculture， resourceful researchers are trying to prove that animals dont really suffer from the force-feeding. They say the geese simply have to be prepared for it while theyre still free range.

Jean-Pierre DuBois （Coulaures Agricultural Research Center）： （via translator）We feed them only once a day. Within ten days， they eat 300-400 grams of corn in just a few minutes. That helps to stretch their crop. Look at the geese coming out now. Their crops are really round like a ball. Theres water and corn in there.

Visitor： （via translator）Doesnt that hurt them？

Jean-Pierre： （via translator）No， they do that themselves with no problem. Its a kind of training for the geese.

Foie gras production is an important economic factor in France， one that employs some 35，000 people. Thats one reason why Paris has so far ignored the protests from other European countries. Another is that the vast majority of foie gras is consumed in France itself.

Foie gras as a cultural icon—if Brussels banned force-feeding， says Herve Chassain， a reporter for a local newspaper， that would be a declaration of war on France.

Herve：（via translator）People here would turn away Europe even more. Theyve already voted massively against the EU treaties， and that would really put them in opposition.

The ninety-five-year-old grandmother Madame Lassere says the expensive delicacy foie gras used to be eaten almost daily.

Alice Lesserre： （via translator）Weve always done the force-feeding， at least as far back as the 17th century. So whats the problem？ Its better if the geese are fatter. Theres more meat then， too.

The French are happy to see themselves as the leaders of the resistance against a ban on foie gras from force-feeding. Bulgaria and Hungary， which also produce small amounts of force-fed foie gras， are certainly grateful for that. And officials in Brussels will surely think twice about a ban， not wanting to cause a feud with an entire nation.

法國西南部的多爾多涅地區(qū)以一道非常特別的美味聞名：肥鵝肝。在馬爾蓋鎮(zhèn)的拉塞爾家養(yǎng)鵝產(chǎn)肥鵝肝已經(jīng)有幾十年的歷史了。他們先將鵝群自由放養(yǎng)三個月，然后把它們?nèi)ζ饋?，并且在它們生命中的最后三個星期里強行喂食玉米。

克雷伯·拉塞爾：（通過翻譯）玉米粒浸泡在水里，此外還要加些脂肪。這樣的話飼料就會更容易進(jìn)入鵝的食道里。這些鵝是為圣誕節(jié)準(zhǔn)備的，它們一天被強行喂食玉米三次。

吉納特·拉塞爾：（通過翻譯）在操作的時候你要小心不要傷到鵝。如果鵝因為恐懼而繃緊了肌肉，我們會按摩它的脖子，直至它放松，而后我們才能把喂食管插入鵝的食道。我們的目的就是要讓鵝盡快增重。在增肥期的初始，鵝的體重大概是六公斤;三周后，鵝重九公斤，而鵝肝就有八百到九百克重。

這個重量五倍于正常鵝肝的肥肝正是他們所追求的。肥鵝肝是法國美食的一個亮點。法國大部分的肥鵝肝并不產(chǎn)自小農(nóng)場，而是源自大型農(nóng)業(yè)企業(yè)。

動物福利活躍人士認(rèn)為肥鵝肝的生產(chǎn)方式純粹是一種虐待。世界上有17個國家禁止通過強飼法來獲取肥鵝肝的做法。由于法國如此大量地生產(chǎn)肥鵝肝，法國農(nóng)民正與損害他們形象的做法抗?fàn)帯?/p>

在法國農(nóng)商會運營的這個實驗農(nóng)場里，頭腦靈活的研究人員正試圖證明鵝并沒有因為強行喂養(yǎng)而受到傷害。他們稱，只不過在鵝群自由放養(yǎng)的階段就必須讓它們做好準(zhǔn)備。

讓-皮埃爾·杜波依斯（庫洛雷農(nóng)業(yè)研究中心）：（通過翻譯）我們一天只喂食一次。在十天內(nèi)，鵝在僅僅幾分鐘內(nèi)就能吃下三百到四百克的玉米，這有助于撐大它們的嗉囊?？纯催@些出來的鵝，它們的嗉囊就像球一樣圓。那里面是水和玉米。

來訪者：（通過翻譯）這樣做不會傷害到它們嗎？

讓-皮埃爾：（通過翻譯）不會，它們會自己這么吃，這都不成問題。這是對鵝的一種訓(xùn)練。

肥鵝肝生產(chǎn)是法國一個重要的經(jīng)濟組成部分，它提供大約三萬五千個工作崗位。這也是法國政府迄今一直對其他歐洲國家的抗議不予理睬的一個原因。而另一個原因是大部分的肥鵝肝都會在法國本土內(nèi)銷。

赫維·查斯恩是當(dāng)?shù)匾患覉笊绲挠浾摺Ｋ硎?，肥鵝肝是法國的一個文化象征，如果歐盟禁止強飼法，那就等于向法國宣戰(zhàn)。

赫維：（通過翻譯）這里的人會更為排斥歐盟。他們本來就已經(jīng)投票，在大規(guī)模地反對歐盟條約了，如果強飼法遭禁，就會導(dǎo)致這里的人與歐盟進(jìn)一步對立。

95歲高齡的老奶奶拉塞爾夫人說肥鵝肝這種昂貴的美味以前是幾乎每天都吃的。

艾麗斯·拉塞爾：（通過翻譯）至少早自17世紀(jì)以來，我們就一直采用強行喂食的方法。這究竟有什么問題？如果鵝肥點會更好，而且鵝肉也會多點。

在反對禁止強飼法的抵制運動中，法國人很樂意充當(dāng)領(lǐng)頭羊，生產(chǎn)少量肥鵝肝的保加利亞和匈牙利對此也自然心存感激。而歐盟官員并不希望與一個國家的國民引起爭端，他們在考慮禁止強飼法的時候肯定會三思而行。

·小鏈接·

動物福利

動物福利一般指動物（尤其是受人類控制的）不應(yīng)受到不必要的痛苦，即使是供人用作食物、工作工具、友伴或研究需要。要讓動物適應(yīng)其所處的環(huán)境，滿足其基本的自然需求。如果能夠保證動物健康、感覺舒適、營養(yǎng)充足、安全、能夠自由表達(dá)天性并且不受痛苦、恐懼和壓力威脅，那么動物福利的要求便得到了滿足。而高水平動物福利則更需要疾病免疫和獸醫(yī)治療，適宜的居所、管理、營養(yǎng)、人道對待和人道屠宰。