Thanksgiving
What are your Thanksgiving plans? For those of us who oppose the excesses and cruelty of factory farming, the traditional turkey dinner (97.43% of turkeys are produced on factory farms1) is an ill fit with the holiday. Have you found a way to eat according to your conscience this year? We want to know! Send us your plans for or stories from a conscientious Thanksgiving meal and your celebration could be featured on our website. (Some of our favorite submissions are below.)
Thanksgiving, more than any other American holiday, invites reflection on the food we eat. So what should our most thank-filled meal of the year look like? Farm Forward board member and novelist Jonathan Safran Foer has asked just this in his new book, Eating Animals, and wonders if we need a turkey at all. Foer puzzles over the turkey’s role in the history of Thanksgiving, noting its conspicuous absence from the famed Plymouth Rock celebration,2 but, more than anything, Foer emphasizes that the turkeys of today have little to do with what our grandparents ate (let alone the pilgrims).
At the center of our Thanksgiving tables is an animal that never breathed fresh air or saw the sky until it was packed away for slaughter. At the end of our forks is an animal that was incapable of reproducing sexually. In our bellies is an animal with antibiotics in its belly. The very genetics of our birds are radically different. If the pilgrims could have seen into the future, what would they have thought of the turkey on our table? Without exaggeration, it’s unlikely that they would recognize it as a turkey."
Virtually all of the turkeys in supermarkets today are Broad-Breasted Whites, a breed genetically engineered to grow as quickly as possible on as little feed as possible. The birds have paid a heavy price for this “efficiency”: factory farmed turkeys are unable to reproduce naturally, fly, and often cannot walk normally. The majority of them suffer from skeletal deformation, metabolic disorders, and weak immune systems.3 No law protects them from even the most egregious abuses during slaughter.
There is a small market for pastured-raised, heritage turkeys—like those produced by Frank Reese’s Good Shepherd Ranch—but the supply is minuscule. Good Shepherd Ranch, for example, sells out six months in advance of Thanksgiving. Many consumers find it easier to simply drop meat from the menu. Foer, whose celebration will be turkeyless, asks,
Would the choice not to eat turkey be a more active way of celebrating how thankful we feel? Try to imagine the conversation that would take place. This is why our family celebrates this way. Would such a conversation feel disappointing or inspiring? Would fewer or more values be transmitted?"
Thanksgiving turkeys account for nearly 15% of the 300 million sold every year. The decision not to serve meat from factory farms at Thanksgiving, when adopted by conscientious consumers across the country, could send a powerful message to the industry that factory farming is unacceptable. The fact that we in American have the opportunity to decide for ourselves what to eat this Thanksgiving is not something to take for granted. We have the privilege of choice—what choice will we make?
Help us as we work to recreate a sustainable food system this holiday season by sharing how your celebration reflects your values. We look forward to hearing from you, learning from you, and working together to change the way America eats, farms, and celebrates!
Your Thanksgiving Stories
Because Thanksgiving is about being thankful, I wanted to prepare a meal without serving an animal who suffered before ending up on our table. With all of the vegetables, bread, potatoes and desserts available, no one left hungry or wanting more. It is shameful to see how animals are treated in factory farms but it's a reality that we all need to be aware of. Not only are the conditions for animals unfathomable, but these farms also destroy our environment and contribute to health problems like cancer, diabetes, and obesity. My family didn’t miss turkey on Thanksgiving this year, and I’m very thankful for that! —Gina
With our friends, we write a list of things for which we are most thankful. With our lists in our pockets, we go out with trash bags and pick up litter (and recycling) in our neighborhood and along the creek. Folks passing by ask what we are doing, and some even join in! After about an hour or two, we go back and get ready for our vegan feast. It's always delicious (we like Quorn products for meat substitutes). This is our fourth annual event of this kind. —Jon
I discovered Frank Reese and Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch after reading about him on the Farm Forward website. This year, for the first time, I ordered and prepared a heritage turkey from Good Shepherd for my family. It was surprisingly different than the turkeys I’m used to, but definitely more like the turkeys I remember as a child. The meat was delicious and the cooking directions perfect. It was clearly our best Thanksgiving bird ever! The genetic changes in current turkeys are really noticeable: There was so much more muscle in the legs of the heritage turkey, and it made me realize that modern turkeys have much weaker bones and cartilage. The heritage bird was thinner and the meat much more balanced. You can really see how they've bred modern turkeys to have misshaped breasts. It makes me sad to realize how few people appreciate the purity of the heritage bird. Thank you for assisting Frank Reese in his efforts to preserve these animals for future generations. —Ann
When I was tasked this year with hosting Thanksgiving for my family and friends I decided to cook a meal that reflected my growing awareness of food ethics and my current values about food production. I eat meat and all of my guests except one were also omnivores, but I set a mostly vegetarian menu to reflect the fact that I think of meat as being just a part of a conscientious diet. Everything but the turkey was vegetarian or vegan. I got my turkey from a local poultry farm that raises free-range, hormone free chicken and turkey. It is a family run business that is located within 25 miles of my home. This choice reflected a couple of values I am developing about food. First and foremost, I tried to select a bird from the most humane farm I could find and from a place that I could actually read about and understand their practices. But equally as important to me was to pick a local business and one that would allow me to actually visit the farm where the animal was grown. To continue my local, best-practice theme I searched out a farmers market (not easy in the midwest in November, but possible!) and purchased as much of my produce as I could from the (mostly) organic farmers there. I was actually pleasantly surprised with how easy this was to do. The only fresh items I couldn't find at the market were herbs and green beans. The best surprise were some cranberries from Michigan that I turned into a wonderful sauce (much better than canned). All in all, with only a little extra effort, I was able to cook a meal I was proud of because it reflected my belief that the best food is that which is produced mostly locally by small businesses who use environmentally responsible and humane practices. And the best part? This kind of food simply tastes better too! —Abby
- 1. Farm Forward calculation based on U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2007 Census of Agriculture, December 2007.
- 2. Rick Schenkman, "Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving," History News Network, November 21, 2001, (accessed November 19, 2009).
- 3. Humane Society of the United States, “An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues With Selective Breeding for Rapid Growth in Broiler Chickens and Turkeys,” (accessed Nov. 19, 2009).
