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Adopt a Turkey!
15 years ago
I'm vegetarian, though generally I don't get in other people's faces about it. I don't try to convince everyone to not eat meat, but I do encourage people to think about where their food comes from, and find alternatives to factory farmed animals.
Most of the turkeys you'll see for Thanksgiving are factory farmed. From the adopt-a-turkey project I'm about to link, here's some info: "Between 250 to 300 million turkeys are raised for slaughter every year in the U.S. — more than 46 million alone for Thanksgiving. Birds are typically packed by the thousands into dark, filthy factory farm warehouses, where they are allotted approximately three square feet of space in which to live. Debeaked and detoed without any pain relief, these birds are bred to reach a crippling weight at an unnaturally fast rate. When turkeys reach only 14 to 18 weeks of age they are transported to slaughter, often under harrowing conditions. Because turkeys and other birds are specifically excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act, which requires that animals be stunned prior to slaughter, their deaths are a brutal end to a miserable existence. "
If you've never met a turkey, they are actually very intelligent and friendly animals. I remember the first turkey I met followed me around all day while I was visiting his farm. He liked to be pet and to get his head stroked. He talked at me when I talked to him. I didn't go vegetarian for years after that, but now I wonder how I managed to eat turkey after getting to know one so well.
Adopt-a-Turkey ( http://www.adoptaturkey.org/aat/adopt/ ) asks that you make a one time donation of $30 to support an organization that saves thousands of turkeys a year and finds them loving homes. You get to pick one of their adoptable birds and they send you some info about it. The site also has meat-free recipes for Thanksgiving if you are able to go that far.
If you can't have Thanksgiving with Turkey, consider taking the time to find a less cruel alternative. Look for free-range, antibiotic free turkey. You have to be careful, because free-range doesn't necessarily mean that the turkeys lived good lives. Instead of being crammed in a cage, they could have been crammed in an open pen with hundreds of other turkeys. But if they're antibiotic-free, they're less likely to have lived in such conditions. Birds in crowded conditions have to be fed antibiotics to keep them from getting one of many easily transferable diseases. You could also buy a kosher turkey. I'm not completely clear on how kosher turkeys are raised, but in order to be kosher, there are strict rules that must be followed about ensuring the animal suffers as little as possible. Kosher turkeys are generally found frozen at the store around Thanksgiving time. If you live in an area that has small family farms, you might do a little looking around to see if you can purchase a turkey from them. All of these options are more expensive, but they're better for the turkeys and for you. Trust me when I say that in all three options, the birds taste waaaaay better than the factory farmed ones. And if you buy from a local farm, you're supporting a small, local business.
I might have more to say about turkeys from now through Thanksgiving. Who knows, I might even get a pet turkey myself since I'll potentially be living in an area where I can have one soon. I'm definitely getting chickens.
Most of the turkeys you'll see for Thanksgiving are factory farmed. From the adopt-a-turkey project I'm about to link, here's some info: "Between 250 to 300 million turkeys are raised for slaughter every year in the U.S. — more than 46 million alone for Thanksgiving. Birds are typically packed by the thousands into dark, filthy factory farm warehouses, where they are allotted approximately three square feet of space in which to live. Debeaked and detoed without any pain relief, these birds are bred to reach a crippling weight at an unnaturally fast rate. When turkeys reach only 14 to 18 weeks of age they are transported to slaughter, often under harrowing conditions. Because turkeys and other birds are specifically excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act, which requires that animals be stunned prior to slaughter, their deaths are a brutal end to a miserable existence. "
If you've never met a turkey, they are actually very intelligent and friendly animals. I remember the first turkey I met followed me around all day while I was visiting his farm. He liked to be pet and to get his head stroked. He talked at me when I talked to him. I didn't go vegetarian for years after that, but now I wonder how I managed to eat turkey after getting to know one so well.
Adopt-a-Turkey ( http://www.adoptaturkey.org/aat/adopt/ ) asks that you make a one time donation of $30 to support an organization that saves thousands of turkeys a year and finds them loving homes. You get to pick one of their adoptable birds and they send you some info about it. The site also has meat-free recipes for Thanksgiving if you are able to go that far.
If you can't have Thanksgiving with Turkey, consider taking the time to find a less cruel alternative. Look for free-range, antibiotic free turkey. You have to be careful, because free-range doesn't necessarily mean that the turkeys lived good lives. Instead of being crammed in a cage, they could have been crammed in an open pen with hundreds of other turkeys. But if they're antibiotic-free, they're less likely to have lived in such conditions. Birds in crowded conditions have to be fed antibiotics to keep them from getting one of many easily transferable diseases. You could also buy a kosher turkey. I'm not completely clear on how kosher turkeys are raised, but in order to be kosher, there are strict rules that must be followed about ensuring the animal suffers as little as possible. Kosher turkeys are generally found frozen at the store around Thanksgiving time. If you live in an area that has small family farms, you might do a little looking around to see if you can purchase a turkey from them. All of these options are more expensive, but they're better for the turkeys and for you. Trust me when I say that in all three options, the birds taste waaaaay better than the factory farmed ones. And if you buy from a local farm, you're supporting a small, local business.
I might have more to say about turkeys from now through Thanksgiving. Who knows, I might even get a pet turkey myself since I'll potentially be living in an area where I can have one soon. I'm definitely getting chickens.
