With Thanksgiving quickly approaching I began to think about the most talked about guest at the dinner table – The Turkey! It is estimated that 90% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving, totaling 45 million turkeys. There is so much time and energy that goes into the turkey postmortem, I wanted to take a look at the Turkey’s life before he gets Stuffed!
Most turkeys start out on a farm, if you could even call it that. They are subjected to live in cramped quarters without access to the outside world. Their living arrangements have taken on the name CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations). In these cramped factories the birds have had their toes and beaks cut, so as to not injure their fellow roommates should a fight break out. The turkeys that fill our grocery store refrigerator bins have also been bred look appealing. Through selective breeding the turkeys we have all come to love, and eat, have more breast meat than their wild counterparts and are all white. Turkeys are bred to have white feathers so there are no dark spots left on the skin, which some consumers might see as unappealing. The Broad-Breasted Whites (BBW’s), the most prevalent commercially raised turkeys in the US, have been bred to have so much breast meat they often have trouble standing (due to their top-heaviness) and are unable to reproduce naturally. On a BBW approximately 70% is white meat. Compare that to a Heritage breed turkey, indigenous breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association, which has proportionally more dark meat then white.
Does that turkey sound a little less appetizing now? I’m not saying we should change this nearly 400 year tradition, but there are other alternatives. Stuff a chicken? Probably not, most of them are raised in similar conditions. I am talking about Heritage Breed turkeys. These are the turkeys you have probably always pictured in your mind -- dark feathers wandering around the farm. They are most often free-range and are fed or forage for organic food. Although they have a smaller breast it is usually more flavorful due to the extra layer of fat they have produced. The fat is what makes moist and tender when cooked. Heritage breeds build up this extra fat because they take longer to mature. BBW’s are ready for slaughter around 3 months of age, where the heritage breeds take more than double that amount of time.
These birds are a little more expensive but considering they actually have a taste and you can buy locally (in turn helping out a local farm) I think it is well worth the cost. You can buy these birds from some local farms.
Most turkeys start out on a farm, if you could even call it that. They are subjected to live in cramped quarters without access to the outside world. Their living arrangements have taken on the name CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations). In these cramped factories the birds have had their toes and beaks cut, so as to not injure their fellow roommates should a fight break out. The turkeys that fill our grocery store refrigerator bins have also been bred look appealing. Through selective breeding the turkeys we have all come to love, and eat, have more breast meat than their wild counterparts and are all white. Turkeys are bred to have white feathers so there are no dark spots left on the skin, which some consumers might see as unappealing. The Broad-Breasted Whites (BBW’s), the most prevalent commercially raised turkeys in the US, have been bred to have so much breast meat they often have trouble standing (due to their top-heaviness) and are unable to reproduce naturally. On a BBW approximately 70% is white meat. Compare that to a Heritage breed turkey, indigenous breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association, which has proportionally more dark meat then white.
Does that turkey sound a little less appetizing now? I’m not saying we should change this nearly 400 year tradition, but there are other alternatives. Stuff a chicken? Probably not, most of them are raised in similar conditions. I am talking about Heritage Breed turkeys. These are the turkeys you have probably always pictured in your mind -- dark feathers wandering around the farm. They are most often free-range and are fed or forage for organic food. Although they have a smaller breast it is usually more flavorful due to the extra layer of fat they have produced. The fat is what makes moist and tender when cooked. Heritage breeds build up this extra fat because they take longer to mature. BBW’s are ready for slaughter around 3 months of age, where the heritage breeds take more than double that amount of time.
These birds are a little more expensive but considering they actually have a taste and you can buy locally (in turn helping out a local farm) I think it is well worth the cost. You can buy these birds from some local farms.
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