Ethical restaurant dining considerations

[Guest guest]

Vegetarian Network of Dallas' Moderator Note: Please boycott restaurants that

serve veal and foie gras. If you see it on the menu, please ask to speak to the

manager and courteously explain to her or him why you will not be dining in the

restaurant, and then politely leave without ordering.

 

Additional Note: Vegetarian Network of Dallas does not hold our luncheons in

restaurants that serve meat. This is VegNod's official policy. What our

members do as individuals is their own call, but we hope everyone will patronize

and support DFW vegetarian restaurants, to the greatest extent possible.

 

Also, see interesting article below. VegNod does not advocate unlawful

behavior, but we do advocate consistently bringing financial and social pressure

to bear on businesses that abuse and/or support the abuse of animals. Thank

you. Margaret

 

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One foie gras foe vandalized 7 eateries, Web poster claims

Obscenities spray-painted on signs, doors, windows in downtown Austin.

Click-2-Listen

By Dale Rice

 

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

 

 

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

 

Photos of vandalism against Austin restaurants that serve veal and foie gras

have been posted on the Internet, underscoring an ongoing local battle between

animal rights activists and restaurateurs over the meats.

 

Seven downtown restaurants, far more than previously were made public, were

defaced with obscene, spray-painted slogans late July 2 or early July 3,

according to the posting. The eateries are Aquarelle, Eddie V's Edgewater

Grille, Fleming's, Restaurant Jezebel, Ruth's Chris Steak House, the Spaghetti

Warehouse and Truluck's.

 

 

Foie gras is duck or goose liver that has been fattened through force feedings

of the animal. Veal is the meat from beef calves that critics long have

complained are not always treated humanely.

 

" We didn't know it was the same person doing all this, " David Tripoli, an

executive with the Truluck's restaurant chain, said Monday. " We thought it was a

random act. "

 

It was not random, according to the Web site, which showcases the photos of the

damage.

 

" Certain restaurants in the downtown Austin area were vandalized with graffiti

by an local animal rights activist, " the posting states. " The incident occurred

sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Here are some photos from

the incident. "

 

The statement does not say whether the vandal and the Web poster are the same

person.

 

Only two of the acts of vandalism, at Jezebel and Aquarelle, were reported to

police, according to a spokeswoman for the Austin Police Department.

 

Tripoli, who said this was the first time Truluck's has been painted with

graffiti of that nature, said the restaurant staff assumed it was an isolated

act, most likely by an inebriated person.

 

After learning that six other places were involved, Tripoli called the mass

vandalism disconcerting.

 

" That's unacceptable, " he said. " Everyone has a right to express their opinions,

but that kind of behavior isn't going to help the cause. "

 

Noah Cooper, who has been leading an anti-foie-gras campaign for Central Texas

Animal Defense and has contacted several restaurants urging them to stop serving

it, agreed.

 

" We're taking a much more positive approach, trying to work with restaurants

rather than vandalize their property, " Cooper said.

 

" It's just not helpful. We have tried very, very hard to show restaurants that

we're not trying to put them out of business or cause any damage. We just want

them to remove one dish. "

 

 

drice; 445-3859