Whether you’re a fan of ice skating, fine art, open-air cinema or fashion, you’ll find them at Somerset House – which is why we were delighted to learn this week that the London cultural institution is also a foie gras–free zone!
“I can confirm that we do not allow foie gras to be supplied or served at Somerset House”, Director Jonathan Reekie wrote to PETA.
We were especially relieved by this news in light of Somerset House’s Christmas partnership with Fortnum & Mason, one of the few retailers that continue to sell foie gras in the face of fierce public opposition to the vile product. Foie gras is made by force-feeding ducks and geese using metal pipes, day after day, until their livers rupture. Sir Roger Moore has labelled it “torture in a tin”.
Somerset House joins many other venues that are proud to have banned foie gras, including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Brit Awards, Wimbledon, Lord’s Cricket Ground, the Port Eliot Festival, the Royal Shakespeare Company and both Houses of Parliament.
If you ever see foie gras on sale in a restaurant or store, please speak out! You can also send a message to Fortnum & Mason asking it to stop profiting from torture: