A Message from Chris Packham

Hi,

My name’s Chris Packham. In case you don’t know me, I’m a conservationist and environmental campaigner and I’m speaking out about a very important issue. I’m going to ask for your support to end the abject suffering of millions of birds.

Tomorrow, billions will tune in to watch the Olympics and those who attend the Games in person are in for a real treat this year.

As visitors to France they will be served exquisite meals that many chefs have painstakingly developed to be as nutritious and planet-friendly as possible… meatless bourguignon with seasonal veggies, quinoa risotto, lentil dahl, even plant-based ‘tuna’.

Now all this plant-based food sounds delicious, but also countless animals will be saved as meat dishes are swapped out for plant-based alternatives. With this year’s Organising Committee fully focused on promoting sustainability we’re seeing more plants on plates and a cut of carbon emissions by a whopping 50%.

This is great news. It’s progress, it’s brilliant, it’s what we need in a time of climate breakdown and global biodiversity loss. Top work!

But unfortunately there is a dirty secret on the Olympic hospitality menu… a product that deserves a place only in the dustiest history books assigned to the darkest corners of our libraries… foie gras.

Made by the force-feeding of ducks and geese, foie gras is cruel beyond belief. Over several weeks of relentless force-feeding, the ducks and geese become diseased, their livers swelling up to ten times their natural size. The animals are then slaughtered and their fatty organs served up as a pâté.

Animal Equality has conducted over a dozen exposés into this industry in France and Spain over the past decade gathering hundreds of hours of footage revealing birds confined in wire cages, suffering from breathing difficulties, eye infections, and broken wings and beaks. It’s agonising to watch.

So putting this on the menu this isn’t brilliant, progressive or appropriate in a time of global crisis. If the Olympics are meant to be a beacon of inclusivity and togetherness how can the Games welcome the world to its table while serving such a vile dish?

The truth is that foie gras has no place at the Olympics. And more than that, animal cruelty has no place in our society. We must fight at every opportunity to end animal abuse.

So I’m pleased to be supporting Animal Equality as their team fights until the eleventh hour to remove foie gras from the Olympic menu.

By supporting them in their fight to remove foie gras from menus, you are signalling to organisations that their cruel decisions will not go unseen and unchallenged.

You are giving ducks and geese hope, confronting cruelty head on and crafting a world where compassion and progress are the main ingredients.

The Olympic Organising Committee might have put their fingers in their ears and ignored the pleas of thousands, but Animal Equality sure has held the Committee accountable for its decision to pay for animals’ pain. Animal Equality’s team around the world has successfully whipped up a PR frenzy over recent weeks – with articles in the Independent, the Mirror, Le Monde, Forbes, Vanity Fair and more – and sounded alarm bells to chefs, restaurants and companies currently serving or planning to serve this cruel product that animal abuse will not be tolerated.

This is a long fight, but I’m in it for the long run. Are you with me?

In love and rage,

Chris Packham