Of course, the claim is that foie gras tortures poor birds and that anyway it's only for a few select rich people, or something, so it wasn't too hard for them to show a few select bad videos of birds that were likely indeed not treated well, and pass the law.
This unfortunately happened because not to many people eat foie gras (probably many don't even know what it is), were given a one side story on how horrible foie gras was, so they didn't care if it went away. This totally ignores that:
Quite frankly, if those people would put their energy into raising standards for animal farms and humane handling, even if they're going to be killed in the end, that would be effort better spent, and supported by virtually everyone (it will likely also raise the price of meat, but so be it).
So, in about a month, a bunch of farms that make foie gras will be closed and people layed off for no good reason but a few activists' wet dreams. In the meantime, California is having multiple foie gras dinners while it's still legal.
Jennifer and I had a nice 5 course all foie gras dinners, and are planning to have another one or two before it's too late.
It was a great dinner, sooo much foie gras :)