I WISH to draw attention to a growing trend for restaurants, caterers and chefs to promote the consumption of foie gras.

This food is steeped in appalling animal suffering and exploitation.

Readers have the power to change this if there is no demand, supply will dwindle and die out.

Foie gras is produced by force feeding ducks and geese to enlarge their livers.

The bird is restrained while a metal tube is forced down its throat. Food is then forced down the tube mechanically.

On some farms an elastic band is put round the bird's neck to stop it throwing up the food. The amount of food increases daily.

It is the equivalent of a person being made to eat 28lbs of spaghetti a day. It has been estimated that 1.8 million children could be fed on the grain used to produce 197.5 forms of foie gras in France alone.

I urge your readers not to frequent any establishment that promotes foie gras. Readers can take action by writing a polite letter to the proprietor pointing out that they would prefer to see it taken off the menu. Compassion in World Farming can supply literature to support the letters. Foie gras is an obscene practice that inflicts unnecessary suffering on ducks and geese.

R LEVENTON

Brondesbury Road

Kilburn