duck duck goose

Duck, duck, goose. Are you old enough to remember this childhood game? I am.


Well, what does that childhood game have to do with the great outdoors? If you said goose down, good guess.


At first glance the use of goose or duck down quilts or sleeping bags seems logical, and perhaps eco-friendly. However, a closer look at this practice reveals a darker side. According to several sources, the use of down feathers condemns the fowl to an early death, or, it may subject the goose or duck to removal of the down while the bird is still alive. This must be an excruciating and painful practice, and in this day of artificial polyester products, such as polyfill, totally unnecessary. It is not uncommon for geese or ducks to have their feathers “replaced” several times in a season. This unnatural molt represents additional agony; I guess you might call it repeated suffering.


Am I arguing for animal rights? I guess so. Despite my rural upbringing, as I continue my walk on this planet, I have become aware that we, as humans, must realign our “wants” with a new reality. There is something to be said about a rural farmer raising a small flock of geese for harvest and selling the down as additional income. This process, although not free of pain for the bird, seems part of God’s plan. It is a balanced approach to life, that also requires death. What doesn’t seem commendable is the factory farming of thousands of geese, force-fed for foie gras, a deliberate and cruel method to produce an enlarged liver that causes the bird immense pain. This so-called “delicacy” remains nothing less than a form of legalized torture, sanctioned by many countries on earth, the U.S. among them.


What must it be like for the geese, who mate for life, to see their mates plucked alive? Are animals on this planet just a commodity? A source of meat and feathers to be used as we like? I readily admit I am a carnivore, a Christmas goose has on occasion graced my table, and yet, I can see that our planet groans from polluted water, from factory farms of all sorts, and excessive grain that could have been used to feed starving humans, instead this grain is used to produce down for sleeping bags for upper middle class campers.


This past week, as the weather cooled, I tossed my Hudson Bay blanket on the bed, snuggled in tight and warm for the night, with no need for a down comforter, and frankly, I slept well.


While there are international standards for the harvesting and use of down, labeled as RDS (Responsible Down Standard), these standards do not entirely solve all the ethical issues involved but if you decide you still care to use down products, these standards are worth an internet search to inform you of the issues involved.