As a proposed ban of foie gras makes its way through the New York City Council, duck farmers and animal rights activists are scrambling to make their respective cases

This ties in to the vegan article currently on the front page as well. Wherever you fall on the "Is meat moral?" question generally, I think it is much, much harder to justify foie gras, which is undoubtedly a luxury. And one made via extremely cruel methods nonetheless. Whether or not normal factory farming is equally cruel, as suggested by one of the proponents in the article, is a separate question entirely. Justifying it as "culinary history" is simply not good enough.