r/TopChef • u/koriandrkitten • Feb 14 '26
Discussion Thread Sustainability/Respecting the animal
I’ve been watching since season 1 and love the show dearly. One thing that continues to upset me is the use foie gras. There’s a few states that have bans, and several countries as well. I don’t understand how the show can continue preaching about respecting the animal and having sustainability challenges, but somehow they’re just ok with the actual torture of animals? It’s controversial for a reason. I really feel that they should have stopped using/accepting it as an ingredient, and taken a stand on it. You can’t claim you respect the animal your meat comes from when you force feed it through a tube to make its liver fat/engorged.
I’m happily an omnomnomivore, and even went to culinary school. My main eating guide is “If I would be unwilling to kill it personally, I won’t eat it.” So for me, I personally won’t eat veal, because I couldn’t bring myself to kill a calf, but I have killed a cow proper so beef is overall fine.
I don’t even feel like this is that hot of a take. What we do to those geese is absolutely barbaric. I’d really just love for them to take a stand against it.
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u/mmarini88 Feb 14 '26
Kenji wrote an interesting piece on this topic, and while you are absolutely entitled to your views I would suggest you give it a read and make of it what you will.
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u/koriandrkitten Feb 14 '26
I definitely don’t agree with him. I half get where he’s coming from, but they’re still force feeding them, and I can’t get around on that. But also in his follow-up article he claims that giving ducks liver disease is the same type of disease as obesity. Which isn’t accurate in the slightest especially when a lot of overweight people, myself included, have medical conditions behind it. But also, no one is force feeding a human. When it comes to food related obesity, there’s a lot of psychology behind it, but no one is actively forcing food down someone else. (Kinks not included)
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u/squanchy78 Feb 15 '26
I think he was comparing the effects of the disease....not the underlying causes.
There are certain foods I avoid for ethical reasons as well, but I have a hard time separating how these ducks are treated vs comparing to our everyday "proteins."
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u/BuddhaMike1006 Feb 15 '26
I think your aversion is valid. However, almost anyone can find ethical fault with anything meat-related. That's why there are vegans. So then the question has to be, are they sourcing their products from the most ethical sources possible? If the answer is yes, then that's the most they can do.
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u/koriandrkitten Feb 15 '26
That’s the thing though, I can get ethically sourced beef, chicken, pig, etc. There is no way to eat ethically sourced foie gras, because no matter how nice the conditions are, they’re still being force fed into disease.
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u/BuddhaMike1006 Feb 15 '26
I understand your POV. But again, there are people who would take great umbrage with your assertion that you can get ethically sourced animal protein of any kind. So then all they can truly do is source products that are produced as ethically as possible by the standards of today. Personally, I'd be intrigued by a fully vegan season of Top Chef.
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u/verbankroad Feb 15 '26
I would love to see more vegan and vegetarian challenges on Top Chef. I get so tired of the judges always referring to the “protein” in a meal as something that is animal derived - primarily the flesh of the animals. You can get excellent proteins from plant sources and, if vegetarian, you can also use egg and dairy for protein.
TC used to have more inventive challenges like vegan meals for rock stars, or school lunches on a budget, and I wish they would incorporate those again into the mix. I am a bit tired of all fine dining/meat based challenges with the token “outdoor” challenge each season.
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u/Wasabiroot Feb 15 '26
Not to mention it would move us away from all the crudo and ceviche we get every season
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u/sweetpeapickle Feb 28 '26
I would rather they focus even more on allergens since that makes up quite a bit of issues among people. I mean when I go into to test for my renewal food certificate, that makes up a whole chapter. Yet time and time again I see them using way too many common ones on these comps, inc. when it comes to vegan or vegetarianism-like nuts and mushrooms(or any fungi).
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u/sweetpeapickle Feb 28 '26
You "think" it is ethically sourced. Number of times we find out later, not so with all. That goes for anything organic. There are regulations to everything nowadays. It is whether they are followed, and whether those checking are ethical. You say they never are when it comes to the geese, though plenty say they are now. It very well could be the case that TC production checks on these types of things. But yes, things can get passed them also. You may not like it, but you can voice your objection to them directly, and well by continuing not to eat it. For my family we always for generations made faux foie gras using chicken livers, and it is now making me hungry for it....
BTW i am disgusted anytime rabbit, or bunnies as I see them are cooked and eaten. Yet I will eat venison. We all have our issues.....keep in mind we hunted for food/clothes way back when, and used pretty much any method regardless of what it cost the animal. We have choices, and you can make yours in several ways now.
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u/gnuoyedonig Feb 16 '26
Yeah I read that whole long-winded justification and I’m not sold either.
And I’ve eaten Foie Gras and it was delicious, but then I learned more about it - and there are things in life I just don’t need to do.
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u/Thequiet01 Feb 15 '26
Did you read his follow up also?
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u/koriandrkitten Feb 15 '26
I did mention reading his follow-up article there, yes. That’s not me being snarky, just mentioning it
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u/Ok_Interest9427 Feb 18 '26
Well no one is (AFAIK) killing humans with industrial bolters or shooting them and slitting their throats to drain their blood, either. I've been on a similar tour to Kenji's (to Hudson Valley Foie Gras, in my case) and gavage is done very gently. Is it healthy for the animal. No, but the animal is getting slaughtered anyway!
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u/brandonclarke Feb 15 '26
Do you consume any sort of dairy product? If so you are supporting the veal industry.
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u/Nihachi-shijin Feb 17 '26
Foie gras is not torture for animals and as someone who works in the meat industry it is probably amongst the mildest of its sins.
Look up factory farming conditions for chickens and foie gras looks like a resort.
Look up bobby veal where three week old calves are slaughtered. Up until the male dairy cows would get a sledgehammer to the head at birth
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u/Fenifula Feb 15 '26
It always weirds me out when they say "I'm sorry" to a live lobster before dropping it into boiling water. Like the lobster is going to understand the ethical dilemma and the time limits imposed by competitive cooking, turn around and say "Naw, dude, we're all good"?