No Thanks, Turkey Day
For many of us, Thanksgiving is about indulgence. Around this time of year, I’m usually flying down to visit my parents in Florida, where we prepare a feast and eat much more than we typically would. Thanksgiving, not unlike the other major holidays, has become more about buying certain things assigned to that holiday and subscribing to a ritual that makes us feel good (indulging in the company of friends and family) under the guise of goodwill. And maybe that goodwill isn’t just a guise, but as we all try to act out that famous Norman Rockwell painting, accurate history just doesn’t seem to matter.
Consider what historians have recently discovered – that Spanish-speaking, Catholic settlers dined on bean soup with the Timucua Indians almost a half-century prior to the famed 1621 Plymouth celebration (which incidentally did not have a single factory farmed Turkey at the table – and no cranberry or potatoes). So how is it that 500 years later, this holiday has become a showcase of nothing but Turkey? It is know as “Turkey Day.”
Last Thanksgiving I warned, “It’s Me or the Turkey,” vowing to never again sit at a table where the body of an individual whose existence was thankless is set out on display. A bird whose morbidly engineered body: painfully detoed and debeaked without anesthesia, forced to live in one sq-foot of space, pumped full of drugs and hormones – is somehow turned into the centerpiece of gratitude. An individual whose life is not considered valid. How is it that this abstinence I have asserted is seen as “radical”, yet the processes by which this dead body arrived is not? How is it that talking about the truth of turkey farming is avoided like the plague, yet putting the product of that truth in our mouths is so enthusiastically embraced?
Every year almost 300 million turkeys are slaughtered in the US. Of that, 46 million are specifically killed for Thanksgiving. Having been bred to grow at alarming rates (twice as fast and twice as large as their ancestors, often causing heart attacks), commercial turkeys are slaughtered after only 14-18 weeks. Many of them die of exposure during transport to the slaughterhouse, and when they arrive, many are not properly stunned prior to slaughter. Turkeys and other poultry are specifically excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act, which requires that animals be stunned prior to slaughter. Finally, as the birds who have not been stunned avoid the automated blades slitting their throats, they are often boiled alive in scalding tanks. Even “free-range” turkeys are no better off. In an industry where maximum output and profit are king, it is no surprise that suffering by individuals who fall between the cracks is so easily overlooked. As much as we’d like them to be true, our delusions of these birds having come from peaceful, Utopian farms must be shattered.
Please take a look at these undercover investigations in turkey facilities from our friends at Compassion Over Killing and Peta.
As Johnathan Safran Foer says in Eating Animals, “We can not plead ignorance, only indifference.” Given what we now know about food production and factory farms, where 99% of animal products come from, it’s difficult to rationalize eating turkeys in a symbolic gesture of thankfulness. The scientific community recently re-wrote the book on bird-brains, revealing how incredibly intelligent turkeys and chickens actually are, shaming the community that capitalized on their perceived stupidity. We also know that the environmental consequences of raising animals for food is greater than the entire transportation sector. We know that we don’t need to eat a Turkey any more than a Twinkie, yet the sentimentality of tradition persists, and so many of us purchase the anonymous, plastic-wrapped, frozen body of a creature and gather with our families around it like some sort of shrine that we are entitled to, never giving a second thought to who he or she was, and what his or her perception and experience of this world was like.
Please take a moment to watch the short video I produced for Farm Sanctuary featuring actress Ginnifer Goodwin as she considers this “tradition based on cruelty” while hanging out with some rescued Turkeys at the sanctuary in Orlan, California.
So what’s the alternative? Can Thanksgiving be Thanksgiving without turkey? Here are a couple tips on a conscientious celebration and ideas for a truly thankful holiday:
-Check out my recipe for Pumpkin Pockets with Smoky Seitan, Mushroom Mousse, & Braised Apple, or check out my recipe page for other ideas!
-Try Celebration Roast, Tofurky, or Unturkey as the new centerpiece!
- Posted by Joshua on November 25, 2009 at 5:00 am
-
Tagged as: Factory Farms, family, gratitude, holidays
Other posts by this author:
I am just wondering if anyone out there has tried the Celebration Roast or the Unturkey and how did you like it?
I have heard fantastic things about the Celebration Roast. I think it’s more of a gourmet option:) That’s what I would choose for Thanksgiving or a special occasion!
I am going with great veggies, and a broccoli and potato soup. I am so grateful that eating animals is not a part of my life anymore.
Thank you for the post. I just wanted to comment b/c I feel that there is so much on this website about animals etc… which I appreciate and think is great! SO many of us eat without thought (including myself – esp when it comes to junk food). However, I just wanted to point out that, with all the posts and comments about animal compassion I sometimes wonder if we’re looking at the rest of the world – what about the humans that are abused or have no place to live or any food at all? For me, during thanksgiving and times of holidays I tend to think more off all the children that are treated poorly and abused, or the families that have nothing to eat at all, than I do about the fact that a lot of folks choose to eat meat.
And when I read the blogs about the horrid treatment of animals it really touches me b/c I agree with everything you’ve said, but it also makes me pause and think – what about the horrid treatment of other humans? Does that matter less?
Joshua, I truly appreciate your post. I try to be pretty conscientious about what I eat, but at holidays that involve family and mass-quantities-of-consumption… I find that for whatever reason, I give in a bit. I don’t question my mother on where she bought the turkey, simply because that’s one less struggle I’ll have to deal with. So, it’s definitely a point of indifference rather than ignorance. You just don’t want to ruffle any feathers (poor analogy for this situation). Though, while I think it is important to question tradition and to speak out against the status quo, there are some things that just fall into the category of “Americana” that, to be honest, I don’t want to give up. However, that does NOT mean a factory-farmed turkey is excusable, when there are plenty of other options like going to a local farm for one of their grass-fed birds (aka, support your local farmers, people!).
And Sarah, I hear everything that you’re saying. However, think of it this way: the horrid treatment of animals and the horrid treatment of human being are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Someone (a society) that has the capability of treating their animals so poorly obviously, at the heart of it, has little regard for Life (with a capital L), and thereby is more willing to pass the buck when it comes to taking responsibility for the other human beings on this earth. Harming animals and harming people are sort of along the same vein, because all of it is violence. We just may put one over the other because, well, I sure as hell don’t look like a turkey (or so I think).
I believe we should take the holidays to appreciate what we have, help those less fortunate, and reaffirm our commitment to making this world a little better for everyone else.
*Steps off soapbox*
Great post. I’m giving the Celebration Roast a try…!
Thank you for this! We are having a Celebration Roast this year, too!
Becca, thank you for your thoughtful and honest response. I agree that compassion is not exclusive and most of the people I know who care about animals are the same people fighting for social justice and human rights, too. It’s not a coincidence that environmentalism, animal rights, and social justice are interconnected.
I would, however, like to openly and LOUDLY dispel the myth that “free range”, “organic”, “natural”, and “grass fed” labeling on animal products does not mean they are treated much better. They are all sent to the same slaughterhouses and I would highly recommend checking this website out:
http://www.humanemyth.org/
I hope everyone has an amazing and delicious holiday where nobody gets hurt!
J
Becca & Joshua, thank you for pointing that out connection! Sometimes I forget about that – that usually ppl with a lot of compassion for animals are those that have a lot of compassion for other people. However, it’s just never talked about and so sometimes I feel like it’s ‘overlooked’.
My family are wonderful, kind, generous people and just b/c they don’t live a vegetarian lifestyle, I’m not going to cause an argument. I think that especially at holidays we need to put our differences aside to be just loving and caring for everyone and accept the fact that not everyone is going to be a vegan or vegetarian etc… Just b/c I don’t agree doesn’t mean that I’m going to not spend time with my family just b/c some of them eat meat. Everyone grows and realizes things in their own time and you can’t “force” someone to become more “aware” or “enlightened”.
Sarah, I can certainly understand your perspective, and not wanting to cause waves during the holidays. A few things came to mind when you said this. One was, imagine if people always said that about social justice issues? We sort of have to make waves (and I can be done respectfully) particularly in those environments where the pepe we care about are around us.
In in all due respect, your equation of “putting our differences aside” takes into consideration all the perspectives aside from the crucial one: that of the Turkey.
We tend not to validate the animals’ perspectives, and instead we talk about “you and your perspective” vs “me and my perspective” as if they were the only two that matter. Imagine saying to someone “I’ll respect that you don’t beat your kid if you respect that I do”. See the problem? The kid is left out of the equation, yet he is the one who has to endure with his body the choices of others.
It is completely true that we can’t force people to become more aware or enlightened, but we can certainly make valid and logical points, provide evidence, and demand the respect for animals whose cries and attempts at escape are not seen as valid forms of communication or dissent.
When I told my parents that “It’s me or the Turkey” we had a turkey-less thanksgiving and still had an amazing time. It may turn out that the family would rather have you than the Turkey, or in some cases, you’ll be shocked to see the persistence of tradition. In any event, “the holidays” are no excuse to let institutionalized cruelty persist. If we don’t make our own waves, the invisivble waves of “business as usual” will persist.
We must talk about it.
Yeah Josh love that you went to school in Syracuse! Much love from the 315!
GREAT POST! Linking to it all over the place!
Thank you for the beautifully written reminder Josh!!
Thank you Josh for this post. I feel so sad and ashamed that we treat our beloved animals this way. No turkey for me this year. Just thankful to know the truth.
-Kiki
A society that treats its animals the way ours does can never have peace.
Hi! first of all introduce myself, my name is Edward and I wanted to make a comment pequeñp a product that greatly helped me lose weight, this product knowledge through the IUN commentary neighbor and every time I see him I thank you, this product changed my life, I wish you much success, for more info visit this page http://www.eatingforenergy.us/