All animals farmed for human consumption suffer to some degree on farms and all have their lives ended prematurely to become our dinner. But the things we do to some animals in particular makes the mind boggle.

For me, the farming of ducks and geese for foie gras fits into this category. The abject cruelty of force-feeding a bird until their engorged livers become diseased, just for an unnecessary “luxury” product, is unbelievable. The UK imports foie gras in hundreds of tons every year from Europe, despite the fact that less than 10% of the population consumes it and that production is illegal here due to the force-feeding element. Animal Equality is campaigning to ban these imports and will be having a “Day of Action” on April the 6th, with events taking place across the UK to raise awareness and call for a ban. You can get involved by emailing me at [email protected] and I will get in touch with details of what’s happening and when. In the meantime, make sure you sign our petition to government and join over 136,000 other people!

Fortunately, some chefs are turning their back on foie gras and instead are developing amazing, cruelty-free, plant-based alternatives. One such chef is Alexis Gauthier, a Michelin Star French chef, with a high-end restaurant in London’s Soho. Although he used to import foie gras to cook and serve, his ethos is now to embrace plant-based cooking; with an entirely vegan menu already on offer at Gauthier Soho, Alexis plans to turn the whole restaurant plant-based! Gauthier says that since becoming vegan himself he is rewriting all the rules of cooking and eating with a plant-based perspective (and creating some incredible food)!

His “faux gras” – made from lentils, walnuts, shallots and mushrooms – has a meaty texture and is topped with vegan butter to create the same taste and sensation of foie gras, with none of the suffering (and at a fraction of the price). The Frenchman claims that served on fresh toast it’s better than the real thing. Take a look at his recipe and, if you give it a try, let us know what you think!

There is an alternative for pretty much every animal product that always tastes as good, if not better than the real thing, but without any animal cruelty. Why not give plant-based a go today?