Looking For A Real Turkey?

Updated November 13, 2006

This Thanksgiving, will we serve turkey or tofurkey? A few years ago, you might not even have thought twice. But vegetarianism is on the rise and any number of thoughtful articles on animal cruelty, vegetarianism, and factory farming are making even dedicated meat-eaters think again about where and how their food is raised. To avoid fouling up your choice, whether bird, or un-bird, consider these tips and advice:

• Organic may not be enough. Organic is increasingly big business and many large organic farms resemble industrial farms in significant ways: manufacturing standardized product, in large quantities, built to ship over long distances.
• Local can be better than organic. Many small farms are essentially organic, but don't always get certified and so therefore can't label themselves as such. Many also prize artisanal values over labels. Buying locally from such a farm, or from a greenmarket or specialty food store you trust, is often the best choice: It supports small-scale agriculture, encourages biodiversity over standardization and cuts down on the fossil fuels used in shipping across the country.
• Cruelty-free is key. The world is rife with reports like PETA's on a Minnesota turkey farm: The farm manager was caught on tape bludgeoning birds with a stick and pliers and wringing their necks. More often, but hardly less cruelly, turkeys are kept in horribly cramped conditions: 10,000 birds in a windowless shed with less than three square feet per bird, the air filled with ammonia and responsible for many respiratory diseases, the waste-filled ground leading to foot ulcerations, the birds debeaked so they don't peck one another to death. Labels like "free range" and "free roaming," minimally verified by the USDA, assure little besides some access to open air. Birds are scientifically bred for breast meat; this practice has grown so advanced that such turkeys have trouble standing upright, develop lame and infected legs and hips, are not genetically diverse and are thus vulnerable to disease, and can only reproduce via artificial insemination. They can't fly and can barely walk. They're pumped full of antibiotics and fed not nuts, grains, and grass but high protein food, including slaughterhouse leftovers. Then they are stuffed into crates, taken to the slaughterhouse and electrically stunned, often ineffectively. They die when their throats are cut, often after reviving from their electric stun. This is the centerpiece you buy for a few cents a pound.

When picking a turkey...

If you are leaning toward serving turkey and you have the opportunity, visit or call some of the small suppliers. Confirm, either visually or by asking questions, that the farming and growing methods used are those you approve of. Make sure that no pesticides are used on plants and that healthy, non-engineered animals are raised according to their nature, rather than in an industrial manner, and are slaughtered humanely. Since most of us won't be able to get out to the farm, we suggest you:

1. Look for the American Humane Association's "Free Farmed" label that appears on certified turkeys that come to the store. This label means that animals are free from unnecessary fear, distress, pain, injury and disease, given ready access to water and a proper diet that maintains health and vigor, and have a species-appropriate environment to avoid discomfort. See americanhumane.org for more details. Humane Farm Animal Care's "Certified Humane Raised and Handled" label ensures the same standards as the "Free Farmed" label, but also requires that turkeys be raised on a diet free from growth hormones and antibiotics, and that processors observe higher standards for slaughtering outlined by the American Meat Institute Standards. For more information, see www.certifiedhumane.org.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) endorses farms that provide humane treatment including healthy feed and ample space to roam, perch and roost. Currently the AWI label is only found on turkeys from Frank Reese's Good Shepard Turkey Ranch, whose stock comes from a long line of humanely raised turkeys ($4.85/lb. when ordered online at www.reeseturkeys.com, or $10/lb. from Dean & DeLuca).

Whole Foods Market also plans to step into the arena with their Animal Compassionate label, however, it is not yet in use and standards for the treatment of poultry haven't yet been announced. Whole Foods' current standards for all poultry sold at their stores allow beak trimming of turkeys, but not of broiler chickens or game hens. Animal byproducts are not allowed in feed and antibiotics may not be used.

2. Find a local supplier you trust. Try Local Harvest to locate an organic turkey farm near you. If necessary, you can buy organic turkeys on the web. Diamond Organics sells nationwide and delivers overnight. And Slow Food USA runs a Heritage Turkey program, which breeds heirloom turkeys—traditional breeds near extinction—on a small-scale and sells them locally through a nationwide network of farms. Starting this year, all their turkeys are raised on organic feed. They get more exercise and have a more varied diet than industrial turkeys—and they can actually fly. They also taste better and are less dry, as they are allowed more months of life, allowing them to develop a layer of fat that commercial turkeys can't. Heritage Turkey farms need advance notice, though, so order soon—sustainable agriculture can't manufacture animals on demand.

Or an un-turkey

There's always Tofurkey, along with competitors Tofu Turkey and UnTurkey, all of which PETA recommends. You can find recipes for vegetarian and vegan Thanksgiving dinners at FoodTV.com and All Recipes. Adopt-A-Turkey offers more resources and lets you sponsor a rescued turkey at Farm Sanctuary with a one-time fee of $15 to feed and shelter and provide veterinary care for your bird.

Or just skip the turkey and the mock turkey and gorge on organic sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie...

Prices

To round out your holiday meal, we've put together a shopping list comparing conventional and organic prices for turkey, ham, cranberries, pumpkin pie and other holiday favorites. See "Healthy Shopping For Holiday Feasts."

Food Safety

Once you have your bird, the USDA and the California Department of Health Services recommend these preparation precautions: Don't let your bird sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours. You can store a whole fresh turkey in a 40-degree refrigerator for one to 2 days or in a freezer for a year. Defrost in the fridge, allowing one day for every 5 pounds of bird; you can also defrost a bird, in a watertight wrapper, by submerging in cold water, changing the water every half hour. Before cooking, rinse the turkey in cold water and drain. Cook the turkey to a thigh temperature of 180 degrees F; the center of the stuffing should reach 165—but it's recommended that you cook stuffing outside the bird for uniform doneness and safety. In a 325 degrees F preheated oven, roast the turkey for 10-12 minutes per pound if unstuffed or 12-15 minutes per pound if stuffed. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

Further Reading

There are many prominent writers on animal rights, all well worth checking out: Peter Singer has been the preeminent philosopher of animal rights from his 1975 book Animal Liberation onward. This year's Nobel Prize winner in literature, J.M. Coetzee, has written philosophical fictions about the lives of animals, including his latest, Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons. But Michael Pollan, in a series of eloquent articles written for the New York Times Magazine and elsewhere, has given perhaps the most practical and wide-ranging advice, for the convert and for the agnostic, for the whole year and even for Thanksgiving. His book The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals transforms meal planning into an investigative event that reveals the unimaginable side to ordinary foods.