next up: Hudson Valley Foie Gras

For Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the future has never looked brighter. As the world's largest producer of fine-quality foie gras, the Sullivan County company has seen its sales explode in the last 10 years. Thirty-three of Zagat's 50 top-rated restaurants in New York City have Hudson Valley Foie Gras (HVFG) on their menus. And while per capita consumption is still low in the United States, a product formerly reserved for the super-rich is on the cusp of becoming the balsamic vinegar of the next decade.

But there is a storm brewing in Sullivan County. Animal rights activists have dubbed foie gras "fur food." At their urging, California has recently joined Germany, Poland, Finland, Sweden, the UK, and Israel in banning foie gras production, by 2012. The ban will effectively put Sonoma Foie Gras, HVFG's only US competition, out of business.

Now the animal defenders are setting their sights on the Hudson Valley and vowing to do whatever it takes to put Hudson Valley Foie Gras out of business.

Larousse Gastronomique, the encyclopedia of the culinary world, defines foie gras as goose or duck liver that is grossly enlarged by methodically fattening the bird. Technically, the liver is so fatty that some avian veterinarians call it diseased, and therein lies the problem. Waterfowl aren't inclined to eat themselves into liver failure without assistance.