SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — In a significant legal victory for upstate New York duck farmers, the New York Supreme Court in Albany has ruled against New York City’s ban on the sale of foie gras.

The ruling confirms that Local Law 202, which sought to prohibit the sale of foie gras within city limits and had been enjoined by the NYS Department of Agriculture, violates state agricultural laws designed to protect farming practices and promote agricultural commerce, La Belle Farms announced on Saturday, June 21.

Foie gras, which translates to “fat liver” in French, is a delicacy made from the liver of a duck or goose fattened through force-feeding, a controversial process known as gavage. Animal welfare advocates say the force-feeding is cruel. California, Australia, and many European countries ban the practice.

The Supreme Court decision prohibits New York City from enforcing its ban on foie gras, which it enacted in 2019. The court ruling allows restaurants and retailers to continue offering this culinary specialty to their patrons.

La Belle Farms Inc. and Hudson Valley Foie Gras, both based in Ferndale, challenged the city’s ban. They said it unlawfully targeted their farming practices and threatened their livelihood. 

Sullivan County Legislator Luis Alvarez (D, 6) applauded the decision.

“Well over 400 people and many local businesses depend on the continued existence and success of our foie gras farms,” he said. “These agricultural operations play a crucial role in both our local economy and culture, and I am very happy that the NYS Supreme Court has reaffirmed their right to function free of unreasonable government interference.”

A challenge by local farmers

The NYS Agriculture and Markets Law protects farming operations from local regulations that unreasonably restrict agricultural practices. The NYS Department of Agriculture after a review declared the city’s ban void and unenforceable.

“This ruling is a victory for farmers across New York State,” said Sergio Saravia, president of La Belle Farms, which was established in 1999 and produces more than 182,000 ducks per year for foie gras and other products. “It’s about more than just foie gras. It’s about preserving our right to farm and support our families. We are grateful to New York Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets Richard Ball for protecting our livelihoods and the court for recognizing the importance of the state’s agricultural practices.”

Edward J. Phillips, attorney at Keane and Beane, P.C., in White Plains, NY, represented the farmers.

“The court’s thorough and insightful decision sets an important precedent that protects the farming community in Sullivan County and the broader agricultural economy of New York State,” he said.

Foie gras will likely continue to animate animal activists. The Humane Society of the United States, which investigated Hudson Valley Foie Gras and was among the animal rights groups that lobbied for the ban, said, “Substantial scientific evidence suggests that force-feeding can cause pain and injury from feeding tube insertion, fear and stress during capture and handling, gait abnormality due to distended livers, pathologies in liver function, and increased mortality.”

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said it investigated Hudson Valley Foie Gras and “found that a single worker was expected to force-feed 500 birds three times each day. The pace meant that they often treated the birds roughly and left them injured and suffering. So many ducks died from ruptured organs resulting from overfeeding that workers who killed fewer than 50 birds per month were given a bonus. A worker told a PETA investigator that he could feel tumor-like lumps, caused by force-feeding, in some ducks’ throats. One duck had a maggot-ridden neck wound so severe that water spilled out of it when he drank.”

Sullivan County foie gras farmers have told the River Reporter that the process has gotten more humane in recent years. Ducks live in open barns, not cages, and the feeding tube is much more slender and is made of rubber, not metal, as was used before. The farmers say the uncooked kernels previously fed to the ducks have been replaced by a corn mush.

Editor's note: Information has been added to the original story posted.

Related stories

See the River Reporter’s related six-part series:

Part I:  Fowl play

Part II: All duck or no dinner

Part III: The wheat from the chaff

Part IV: Ducks out of water

Part V: Down and dirty at city hall

Part VI: Beyond foie gras