Lady Kristina, Widow of Sir Roger Moore, Says Actor Would Have Been ‘Delighted’ With Fortnum & Mason Foie Gras Ban
Lady Kristina, Widow of Sir Roger Moore, Says Actor Would Have Been ‘Delighted’ With Fortnum & Mason Foie Gras Ban
London – Long-time PETA supporter Sir Roger Moore may have been best known for his suave portrayal of James Bond, but to PETA, some of his greatest achievements were his efforts on behalf of animals, including a starring role in the group’s campaign against foie gras – a product he called “torture in a tin”.
This week, the campaign scored a major win for ducks and geese after iconic London department store Fortnum & Mason announced it would stop selling cruelly produced foie gras – something PETA and Sir Roger had pushed for.
“My late husband, Sir Roger Moore, was a staunch advocate for animal rights, and foie gras production was one of the many issues he took a stand against,” says Lady Kristina Moore. “For years, he joined PETA in urging Fortnum & Mason to stop selling this product of horrific cruelty. I know he would have been delighted to hear that the retailer has finally made the compassionate decision to remove foie gras from its shelves.”
Having previously joined forces with PETA to persuade both Selfridges and Harvey Nichols to drop foie gras, the revered British actor first joined the group in 2010 to call on Fortnum & Mason to follow suit. He also appeared in a PETA billboard campaign appealing to the department store to stop selling foie gras, a food that he described as “tasteless” and narrated a video exposé, seen by hundreds of thousands, highlighting the horrific suffering of birds exploited by the industry.
Sir Roger always stipulated that he wouldn’t attend a dinner if foie gras was on the menu. And when he was out to eat, if he saw foie gras on a restaurant menu, he made a point of going to the chef to discuss the issue in person – and if it stayed on the menu, he didn’t return.
Foie gras, or “fatty liver” pâté, is made by shoving metal pipes down the throats of ducks and geese and pumping grain into their stomachs until their livers become diseased. By the end of their lives, many birds have trouble breathing because their enlarged livers compress their lungs.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way” – is calling on the government to take action to protect birds from farming practices that would be illegal if done here by banning the importation and sale of foie gras in the UK.
High-resolution images are available here. For more information, including a full history of the campaign against Fortnum & Mason, please visit PETA.org.uk. You can also follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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