SWAMPSCOTT — A citizen’s petition on this year’s Town Meeting warrant is asking residents to consider banning the sale of foie gras, a controversial delicacy that animal welfare advocates say is produced through inhumane practices.

The petition is being brought forward by Deb Newman, president and founder of Speak Up for Animals, a North Shore nonprofit focused on wildlife protection.

Newman founded the group in August 2024. She said her advocacy grew out of research she did on factory farming while in law school — work that reshaped how she views the treatment of animals.

Foie gras, French for “fatty liver,” is made by enlarging the livers of ducks or geese through force-feeding, a process that has drawn criticism from animal welfare groups. Newman said that the production method is central to her push for a ban, though she emphasized she is not trying to police what people eat.

“I worry that people think, oh, you know, somebody’s trying to stop us from eating meat, period. And that’s not it,” she said.

Instead, Newman’s petition targets a single product and the way it is produced.

“The method of producing it is really extremely inhumane,” she said, describing the process in which birds are fed through tubes, often with food designed specifically to fatten the liver that is not part of a typical duck’s diet.

“There’s a tube down the throat, and it’s not just once a day; it’s multiple times a day — typically three to five times.”

That process, Newman said, can leave animals sick or injured.

“You get a lot of birds who end up being sick. You’re getting a product derived from sick animals,” she said. “A lot of them die — some suffocate from the tube, their throat gets torn… It’s just awful.”

The proposed bylaw would prohibit the sale of foie gras in Swampscott, though it would not ban possession or consumption. Newman said she is not aware of any businesses in town that currently sell the product, which she described as a rarity.

“It’s considered a delicacy… It’s not like a staple,” she said. “You could live without foie gras.”

Because of that, Newman said that while the measure would likely have limited impact locally, it would be a largely symbolic way for the town to take a stance against animal cruelty.

“As far as I can tell, nobody’s selling it,” Newman said. “So, you know, it would be nice to be at the forefront of doing it, and it wouldn’t harm anybody.”

Brookline is currently the only municipality in Massachusetts with a foie gras sales ban, while larger jurisdictions such as New York City and the state of California have enacted similar restrictions.

Newman said she plans to share information with Town Meeting members ahead of the vote and make a brief presentation of the article, with the goal of spreading awareness and encouraging residents to think through the issue.

“I think that if people think about it a little bit, they’ll see that they don’t need to have this,” she said. “And that it’s not ridiculous to ask for it. I can only rely on people’s compassion.”

Newman had also submitted another citizen petition to codify the town’s ban on anticoagulant rodenticides, but will remove that petition since the Select Board has voted to approve it to be included in the regular warrant.

Voting members will ultimately decide whether to adopt the foie gras ban at Town Meeting on May 18, which will require a majority vote to pass. Town Meeting is held in the auditorium at Swampscott High School, and will begin at 7 p.m.