What's good for the goose...
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Do you ever wonder why you do something a certain way?
Things we do often get so entrenched in us and our systems that it’s hard to believe that there is a better way.
Foie Gras traditionally involves industrial gavage, or force feeding to the point where a goose’s liver expands far more than what would be considered normal.
It’s widely believed that foie gras was discovered by the Jewish people in Egyptian times. Gavage was required to please the pharaoh who demanded it. Treat a goose like shit to feed a king.
There is a Spanish farmer that has reversed this concept, he has treated geese like kings. Eduardo Sousa has made a Garden of Eden for geese. His foie gras is something that changes you. For Dan Barber, it makes him hate traditional foie gras.
He doesn’t do it for the profit. If it did, he wouldn’t use his farm for geese. The figs, olives, herbs and spices he makes to feed the geese would get him more money. But his purpose is “To give the geese what they want”.
He is soft spoken to not deter the geese, he made his electric fence only work on the outside so that the geese aren’t electrified but predators are. He has made a paradise for the geese that is has changed the migratory patterns of wild geese.
Migration for geese, just like with people, is to go to where life is better. Eduardo’s farm is that place. The farm geese let wild geese know the conditions and the wild geese join the farm, increasing the diversity of the geese.
Naturally, geese are kinda greedy. Their livers can in fact swell naturally. The need to force feed geese was born from fear. You get a poor product too.
Eduardo’s foie gras needs no seasoning, the geese’s diet is all that is needed. The pepper bushes and high sodium rich plants give the seasoning you would expect from the regular foie gras.
There is no pipe or tube is sight. There is no silo of corn to be forced into geese unnaturally.
Eduardo follows his purpose, to give the geese what they want. In return he gets some of the the best foie gras you can get.
Eduardo know he is doing good. He doesn’t think the greatest chefs in the world deserve his foie gras, as they wouldn’t respect it like he respects his geese. He also thinks that ordinary foie gras is an insult to history.
Purpose-driven businesses are becoming common place. They are looking at the world and how it has worked until now and have decided to do better. Eduardo’s story and that of his geese, for me atleast, is such a strong reason for why being purpose-driven is not only the right thing but it makes more sense than not.
You don’t need to force a pipe down your customer’s throat, you can instead follow your purpose.
What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander
