This Thanksgiving, let's give, instead of take.

Many people believe that we are supposed to eat turkey for Thanksgiving because it is tradition. Did you know the first Thanksgiving took place in 1621, but our version of the holiday didn't begin until 1863! Let's take a minute here and talk about the REAL first Thanksgiving. Everything we know about the first Thanksgiving is based on only TWO first-hand accounts. Turkey is never even mentioned, just "many fowle and five deer", so for all we know they were eating quial and pheasant.

Whether or not they had turkey is not the point of Thanksgiving in the first place. They were celebrating the harvest! The harvest which consisted of bountiful fruits, vegetables and grains. The meat served at the first Thanksgiving was only there as something extra special that they would not normally have. Today, we can have meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I hardly think having turkey for Thanksgiving is anything special for anyone in this country of gluttons.

The only reason we have turkey for Thanksgiving is because of the commercialization of the holiday. Do you know how much money the turkey industry makes during the holiday season? BILLIONS! They spend countless dollars on advertising in order to make sure that turkeys stay part of Thanksgiving. Birds are the most abused and mistreated animals in our country because they are not protected under animal welfare laws.

This Thanksgiving, let's begin a new tradition, adopting a tukey! www.AdoptATurkey.org, is run by Farm Santuary, who every year rescue turkeys from factory farms and give them life-long, loving care. Every Thanksgiving these turkeys serve as ambassadors to teach people that turkeys deserve more than just a place on the table. They have their very own Thanksgiving feast, which attacts media from around the country to help shed light on this very important situation. For a mere $20 adoption fee, you will recieve a photo of your turkey, adoption certificate, Farm Sanctuary membership and a newsletter! Visit www.AdoptATurkey.org to take part! Even you you cannot afford to give this holiday, do the most important part and don't take! Say no to turkeys this Thanksgiving!!!

Please feel free to let me know how you will be enjoying your turkey-free Thanksgiving with ideas, recipes, etc. I would like to put together a blog before the holiday, so we can share ideas and make this Thanksgiving a very thankful one indeed.

This video is from a Peta investigtion of a Butterball turkey factory:


Thanksgiving the way it should be:

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 19, 2007 at 1:18 PM

    Hi Ed,
    Definitely no turkey for me this upcoming 'turkey day'. Unfortunately, with the exception of my wife, both of our extended families are meat eaters. It's hard enough to convince our families we don't eat meat, I know I will probably never convince them to not serve turkey. It will be served at both of our Thanksgiving dinners, but will not be consumed by this veg head.
    I think one of the best veg. Thanksgiving foods is squash. Not only is it delicious, it is seasonal, and I have to believe is grown all over the place, so it should be easy to find locally. I always love mashed potatoes as well, another seasonal root vegetable.
    Like you said, some sort of meat was consumed on the original Thanksgiving, but the rest must have been seasonal, local veggies (they couldn't import veggies from half a world away back then!), so I think that is the best food to consume on Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisa S.October 26, 2007 at 1:09 AM

    Someone recently asked me: "If you're vegan, do you still celebrate Thanksgiving?" My response was: "Of course! Thanksgiving is the celebration of the harvest & another year of survival."

    She stood silent for a moment & said, "So why do people even bother to eat turkey, then?"

    Farmers, my friend... farmers.

    As always, great entry.


    I'm with alec: squash is one of the best veggies! We just discovered the wonderful combination of squash, onions & sage... oooh.... tastes like autumn....

    ReplyDelete

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