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Washington, D.C., voters will decide in November whether to ban the sale of foie gras, setting up a fight between animal welfare advocates and the city’s fine-dining industry over the controversial delicacy.
The D.C. Board of Elections on Wednesday certified Initiative 86, also known as the Prohibiting the Force-Feeding of Birds Act, officially placing the measure on the November ballot after supporters gathered enough signatures to qualify.
Foie gras is a delicacy made from the enlarged liver of ducks or geese, typically fattened by force-feeding before slaughter. If approved, the proposal would prohibit the sale and distribution of foie gras and other products made through the force-feeding of birds beginning July 1, 2027.
Restaurants and retailers that violate the law could face fines ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, while repeat offenders could result in the suspension of their business license.
The initiative was backed by Pro-Animal DC, an animal advocacy group that submitted more than 45,000 signatures to ban the “sale or distribution of any product resulting from force-feeding a bird, including foie gras.”
“A lot of people don’t know what foie gras is. But once they find out that it’s made by force-feeding ducks with a metal tube, they generally don’t support foie gras,” Natalie Fulton, a spokesperson for Pro-Animal DC, said in a statement to the Washingtonian.
Supporters argue the force-feeding process causes unnecessary suffering by repeatedly feeding ducks or geese large amounts of food until their liver becomes enlarged.
The initiative drew opposition from restaurants and butchers that sell foie gras. In an op-ed in The Washington Post, Butterworth’s chef and owner, Bart Hutchins, said that he was “incredibly disappointed” that the measure made it on the ballot.
Hutchins stated that while force-feeding “looks terrible,” the process does not actually harm ducks and that “what foie gras farming does is amplify a natural biological process rather than invent a cruel one.”
He added that the farmers treat the animals with dignity, whereas other animals that are farmed for consumption are often treated with cruelty.
A foie gras ban in California was enacted in 2012. California’s bill was declined for review by the U.S. Supreme Court twice, but the product has still been spotted in stores throughout the state, according to a 2025 article from Los Angeles Times.
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