Date published: 2008/02/21
The Cambridge News says:
Foie gras is off the menu at the Midsummer House restaurant in Cambridge.
The Michelin-starred eatery had been targeted for months by animal rights protesters for serving the delicacy - as of yesterday it will be served no more.
Peaceful protests were carried out by Animal Rights Cambridge.
But an unrelated group attacked the venue at the weekend when the restaurant was sprayed with graffiti, door locks were glued, glass-etching fluid was used to damage the windows and paint stripper was used on window frames and the front door.
Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).
Daniel Clifford, the chef director and one of two partners who own the restaurant, says he has reluctantly bowed to the pressure.
He said that in the interests of his staff and customers he has taken foie gras off the menu with immediate effect.
...
Mr Clifford said foie gras had always been a popular dish on a customeroriented menu - and the protests actually helped to boost its popularity.
...
He said safety of the 26 staff had to be a key consideration, especially after a brick was thrown through a window just before dinner one Saturday at 7pm.He also received an anonymous letter containing threats, which he has passed to police.
Mr Clifford, who has been at Midsummer House since 1998, said: "The police told me the lengths to which ALF would go to get foie gras off the menu.
"When it starts to affect the business and the health of my staff, I had to take this into account."
An anonymous email sent to the News on behalf of the ALF after the attack said:
"We hope this is the only action needed to persuade the restaurant to stop selling foie gras. It's a simple thing to do. If not, the direct action will continue."
Mr Clifford feels Midsummer House is not the only establishment serving foie gras in Cambridge, it was targeted because of its high profile and two Michelin stars.
It is unfortunate that the ALF terrorists have once again successfully used terrorism to get their way. Hopefully the police will catch them somehow (e.g. perhaps one of the other animal rights groups will shop them, because someone must know who they are). What is Animal Rights Cambridge going to make of the fact that their protests did absolutely no good (indeed, seem to have back-fired) and the terrorists succeeded? It's hardly going to promote legitimate debate.
Foie gras is disgusting and the Cambridge News should at the very least have asked Clifford to justify having it on the menu. But why just foie gras? Why not lobster? You might as well terrorise restaurants (and supermarkets) that sell chickens whose upbringing you happen not to approve of. Or you might as well terrorise anybody who sells any fish or meat product. Perhaps the ALF terrorists will turn their attention to these, or some other random product, next. These terrorists obviously think they are God and can decide what is and is not right in the world, just like all the other fundamentalist religious nutters in the world. They cannot win an argument, so have to resort to terrorism.
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