Foie Gras Ban To Take Effect In Chicago

FERNDALE, NY - AUGUST 18: A worker uses the force feeding machine to feed ducks at Hudson Valley Foie Gras August 17, 2006 in Ferndale, New York. Chicago's ban on foie gras products takes effect on August 22 and distributors, producers and processors have formed the North American Foie Gras Association, hiring a lobbyist in Washington to hopefully stop the ban in other cities. The history of foie gras dates to about 2500BC with the Egyptians, who found that migratory birds from the North were stocking fat in their liver by overeating, stopping only for drinking before arriving in Egypt, with an enormous liver. They imitated the overeating by force feeding with figs, improving the taste of the liver. Around 100 BC the technique was also spread out through the Ancient Greek world and the Roman Empire. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)