New York City’s Foie Gras Ban Once Again Deemed Illegal by New York State

New York City’s terrible foie gras ban, passed in 2019 at the urging of animal-rights groups, is on life support. 

In an order issued last week, the state’s agriculture department found the city’s ban on the sale of foie gras violates state law. The order blasts “the City’s effort to use its police powers and business regulatory authority to bar the sale of a lawfully produced farm product—not for reasons of the health, safety, or welfare of its citizens—but to change animal husbandry practices occurring on farms outside its jurisdiction to which it objects.”

The order, which characterizes the ban as “unusual,” “unreasonabl[e],” and “legislative overreach,” gives New York City 30 days to appeal. If the city fails to do so within a month—the city says it’s pondering its next move—then the order will become final.

While I welcome the likely death of the city’s foie gras ban—and hated the very idea of it—news of its seemingly imminent demise comes as no great surprise. That’s because the city was put on notice years ago that its foie gras ban is illegal.

“[T]he state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets informed New York City two years ago that its foie gras ban ‘directly and unreasonably restricts Plaintiffs’ farming operations in violation of’ state law,” I explained in a column earlier this year that detailed the filing of a lawsuit challenging the city ban.

This month’s order, issued by that same state agriculture department and saying virtually the exact same thing, should make that fact abundantly clear to any elected official in New York City who hasn’t been paying attention. The ban is illegal.

As the agriculture department details, New York State law “protects farmers against local laws which unreasonably restrict farm operations located within an agricultural district.” The key issue in such cases, the department explains, is whether a local law in question protects the health and safety of its residents. If it doesn’t, then the local law is illegal.

In its order, the