On Wednesday, local food writer Fiona Morrow gave the foie gras protesters that have been picketing outside Fuel and Gastropod plenty of gasoline for their fire. Her Globe and Mail article on the protests elevated their cause to the national stage, and it appears as if it’s already bringing results. In another piece from Morrow in today’s Globe, we learn the following:
“As pressure mounts on Vancouver restaurants to remove foie gras from their menus, one high-profile eatery told The Globe and Mail yesterday it has decided to stop serving the controversial delicacy. West restaurant, widely regarded as one of the top dining rooms in the city, reworked its spring menu this week and removed it.”
I might be reading this incorrectly, but I wonder if the pressure would “mount” as much if the media wasn’t inserting themselves as a significant actor in this farce. That’s two stories by the same writer in the same week about a handful of vegan fanatics who wouldn’t know a farm if it shat on their chins. That’s two big, fat puff pieces for their cause. Before that? Nothing. Crickets. Chirp chirp. And as to why this West bit warrants inches in the paper is beyond me. It’s not a follow-up. It’s a press release.
To many, it looks like Morrow isn’t breaking a story. Rather, she’s creating one.
But that’s not my beef.
What I found to be particularly offside was that West could have made the change without any pomp. Instead, they drafted a statement and delivered it to Morrow. As far as I know, the statement wasn’t given to any other writers.
I can’t think of any way to spin this otherwise – but it looks awfully like West has publicly sold out Fuel and Gastropod’s efforts to stand up to these people in order to get press they don’t need.
And I really don’t know what to say about that, except maybe “wow”.
If you’d like to comment, join the conversation in the forum’s Foie Gras thread.
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