Top 10 Reasons To Pardon A Turkey this Thanksgiving

Did Sarah Palin's recent interview in front of a turkey slaughter operation cause you to almost lose your lunch? If so, you're not alone. Even conservative pundit Joe Scarborough says he may well skip the bird this year. With Thanksgiving upon us, here without further ado are PETA's top ten reasons to pardon a turkey this Holiday season:

10. If you wouldn't eat your cat, you shouldn't eat a turkey.
As poultry scientist Tom Savage says, "I've always viewed turkeys as smart animals with personality and character, and keen awareness of their surroundings. The 'dumb' tag simply doesn't fit." They're as interesting and have personalities every bit as developed as any dog or cat.

When they're not forced to live on filthy factory farms, turkeys spend their days caring for their young, building nests, foraging for food, taking dustbaths, preening themselves, and roosting high in trees. These social, playful birds relish having their feathers stroked and like to chirp, cluck, and gobble along to their favorite tunes.

9. Factory farms deny turkeys everything natural to them.
Ben Franklin called turkeys "true American originals." He had tremendous respect for their resourcefulness, agility, and beauty. In nature, turkeys can fly 55 miles an hour, run 25 miles an hour, and live up to four years. Yet turkeys raised for food are killed when they are only 5 or 6 months old, and during their short lives, they will be denied even the simplest pleasures, like running, building nests, and raising their young.

8. Turkey consumption may kill you.
Turkey flesh is brimming with fat and cholesterol. Just one homemade patty of ground, cooked turkey meat contains a whopping 244 mg of cholesterol, and half of its calories come from fat. Turkey flesh is also frequently tainted with salmonella, campylobacter bacteria, and other contaminants. And a vegan meal won't leave you sprawled on the couch, belt buckle undone, barely able to move.

7. You may stave off bird flue apocalypse.
Current factory-farm conditions, in which turkeys are drugged and bred to grow so quickly that many become crippled and die from dehydration, are breeding grounds for disease. Cooking meat should kill the bird flu virus, but it can be left behind on cutting boards and utensils and spread through something else you're eating.

6. Don't support their crack habit.
Dosing turkeys with antibiotics to stimulate their growth and to keep them alive in filthy, disease-ridden conditions that would otherwise kill them poses even more risks for people who eat them. Leading health organizations--including the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, and the American Public Health Association--have warned that the farmed-animal industry is creating possible long-term risks to human health and will spread antibiotic-resistant supergerms. That's why the use of drugs to promote growth in animals used for food has been banned for many years in Europe.

5. There are healthy, humane alternatives
Everyone can give thanks for Tofurky, Celebration Roast, Garden Protein's new Veggie Turkey Breast With Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffing, and other animal-friendly holiday meals. PETA's scrumptious holiday recipes will please every palate and make it easier to give up the giblets.

4. Eating birds supports cruelty to animals.
When the time comes for slaughter, turkeys are thrown into transport trucks, and at the slaughterhouse, they are hung upside-down and their heads are dragged through an electrified "stunning tank," which immobilizes them but does not kill them. Many birds dodge the tank and are still conscious when their throats are slit. If the knife fails to properly slit the birds' throats, the birds are scalded to death in the defeathering tanks.

3. Turkey consumption is bad for the environment.
Turkeys and other animals raised for food produce 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population--all without the benefit of waste treatment systems. There are no federal guidelines to regulate how factory farms treat, store, and dispose of the trillions of pounds of concentrated, untreated animal excrement that they produce each year.

2. Which contributes to human starvation.
You have to feed a turkey grains, soy, oats, and corn that could otherwise be fed to human beings. Only a fraction of the calories fed to a turkey are turned into meat calories. While there is ample and justified moral indignation about the diversion of 100 million tons of grain for biofuels, more than seven times as much (760 million tons) is fed to farmed animals so that people can eat meat. Is the diversion of crops to our cars a moral issue? Yes, but it's about one-eighth the issue that meat-eating is.

And the number one reason to give the birds a break:
Factory-farmed turkeys have nothing to be thankful for
On factory farms, turkeys live for months in sheds where they are packed so tightly that flapping a wing or stretching a leg is nearly impossible. They stand mired in waste, and urine and ammonia fumes burn their eyes and lungs. To keep the birds from killing one another in such crowded conditions, parts of the turkeys' toes and beaks are cut off, as are the males' snoods (the flap of skin under the chin). All this is done without any pain relievers.

A PETA investigator recently went undercover at a massive turkey breeding facility in West Virginia and documented workers stomping on turkeys, punching them, beating them with pipes and boards, and twisting their necks repeatedly. One worker even bragged about shoving a broomstick down a turkey's throat because the bird had pecked at him. Our previous investigations show that such gratuitous abuse is the norm on turkey farms.

Check out www.VegCooking.com for tasty alternatives that will allow the turkeys to give thanks this Holiday season along with you and your family.

Happy eating!

Follow Bruce Friedrich on Twitter: www.twitter.com/brucegfriedrich

Comments

[demona]

We live on planet earth, and by design, things have to die in order for other things to live. As long as we treat our animals as gifts, and show proper stewardship, there is no wrong doing. We are part of the web of life. Eating meat is not the problem. It's greed for profits. It's the dehumanization of working in a kill factory. It's not seeing animals as sentient beings.

[starkplug]

What about "Because ham is better anyways!" This is an awesome top ten list. You should post this list on my buddy's site http://www.toptentopten.com/.

Either way, people still farm animals in-humanely. It's bad enough that we give them life only for our use, which I don't think we'll ever get away from, but at least we can treat these living creatures a little better. It's not like it would be to difficult. CA is at least progressive enough to have a Proposition that betters the condition for chickens, small step in the right direction.

[KarateKid]

We have not had turkey in our home for a decade now, for many of the reasons listed by the author.

[KarateKid]

We have not had turkey in our home for a decade now, for many of the reasons listed by the author. Has anyone tried vegan "turkey"? it tastes just as good and it is amazing how far the cuisine has come. I had vegan turkey salad the other day, and kept asking the restaurant server if this was really vegan.

After watching Sarah Palin's interview at turkey Auschwitz, I have further been turned off to eating turkey. After all the avian flu reports, I just don't trust bird farmers and will not eat any poultry.

[Sumocat]

"a vegan meal won't leave you sprawled on the couch, belt buckle undone, barely able to move." -- You clearly have not (over)enjoyed a big meal of seitan, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Completely vegan (using vegetable or mushroom broth for everything) and weighed me down like a brick last week.

[SimplyKindness]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBM0NULDYl8

For all of you who have been posting that it is OK to eat turkeys and other animals, please take a moment to look inside a major turkey farm by clicking on this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBM0NULDYl8

This was filmed only a few days ago at one of the largest turkey producers in the US. Please click on the link and then search your hearts. Its not about what we "can" do or have the "right" to do, but it is about what is we know is correct in the deepest part of ourselves. It is a test of our character to do the right thing when we dont have to. Please, take a moment to watch. Happy Thanksgiving to all sentient beings.

[loofa]

thank you. good job. so sad to see all of the defensive crazy comments on here, but it's to be expected. People have huge emotional attachments to their food and will go into the most incredible denial. I can never fully love a holiday that has a dead body as the centerpiece of the altar and I appreciate all of the wise and brave folks who are willing to point out that maybe there is something to consider here.
To all who think it will be fun to post a comment attacking my ethics, just know that I won't be returning to this page, so your words will be wasted. The world is full of pro-carnivore jargon - have a heart and let this be.

[big666dog]

It's interesting that many of the the "Veg Cooking" recipes for Thanksgiving pretend to be "Chicken", "Beef", "Sausage", and "Turkey". While I respect the choice of vegetarians to celebrate the holidays and eat whatever they want to all year-'round, I find it intellectually dishonest to imitate the meals that they cast as barbaric, cruel, and unhealthy.

[loofa]

yeah, if you can't be perfect, you shouldn't even try huh?

[FrankenforSenate08]

I don't understand your comment at all big666dog. The thing that is cruel about meat is that it abuses animals. And of course all the other arguments. But faux meat doesn't have those problems. Can you explain your problem?

[stpintodalite]

If you don't eat meat for whatever reason, fine don't eat it. Please stop badgering those of us who do. I for one cannot wait to eat turkey on Thursday. I'm having chicken tonight and a big old juicy steak tomorrow. All while wearing leather boots!

[cucumber]

Enjoy your karma. And don't ask for mercy where you give none. They want to live as much as you do.

If you're begging for your life someday, when some mugger or thug holds a gun to you...well...

[stpintodalite]

My karma is just fine. You on the other hand should be worried. Wishing harm on someone because they don't share your beliefs says a lot about you and the type of person you are. I'll pray for you that you learn to respect differences and live and let live.

[ambika]

Ok, so not living in America I dont celebrate thanksgiving, so this does not really affect me, but I do have a few issues with some of those reasons.
Firstly, if Turkey meat can kill you, for the reasons you stated, so can a lot of other animals and seafood. So why just stop at turkey, why not try and turn people against ALL meat. Same goes for the point about healthy humane options, which might be true, but not always, meat gives you proteins, and for people who dont eat lentils, meat is a viable option. Also in colder climates the fat from meat helps keep the system warmer as your burning more fat and carbs to stay warm.
Yes eating birds is cruel, but so then is eating cows and pigs and whatnot. Let them all live why dont we, come back in one year and lets review the income lost by people who raise, sell, package all kinds of meat. Find an alternative livelihood for them and then lets talk.
Lastly, I seriously doubt that eating one turkey per American family is the root cause of human starvation. Just take a trip down to any sub-saharan African country or parts of Asia, or even the poverty stricken nieghbourhoods of your own country and I am sure any starving child will welcome a slice of meat.

[ch4r1iegr1]

Meat gives you proteins because ALL food gives you proteins.

In fact, quinoa, goji berries, hemp seeds and soy are all complete proteins by themselves. Any combination of vegetables, brown rice, pasta, lentils, peas, beans, ect. will provide sufficient proteins. In other words, a healthy, balanced diet, consisting of real foods (not processed Kraft or General Mills food products) will provide sufficient nutrients, protein, iron, calcium, ect. Might have to take a B-12 supplement once a week to make up for the fact that we wash our food now, but that's a good idea for anyone who wants to experience optimal health.

People who have protein deficiency are people who are starving. The protein thing is a really tired issue and I'm surprised how many people still repeat it. It's NOT true that meat is necessary for protein, because everything has protein in it, but the fact is, animal protein is full of fat and proven to cause cancer in lab rats.

[History-of-Medicine-Geek]

I know that there is a tradition with turkey--fine, but perhaps you could spread the meat out over a week or so, and then not eat meat or use it sparingly for the week after? For most American diets, which are astonishingly low in fiber, vitamins, and whole grains--meat is just filler. It is hard for your body to absorb all the protein contained in a large piece of meat all at once--spread throughout the day or even days will help your body process it better. A diet high in fiber will also allow you to feel just as full (maybe not as bloated) as a meal heaped in meat--and will be much better for your health and your wallet.

[ch4r1iegr1]

It's thanksgiving time.
Lets give thanks for the corporations and big business that do whatever they want, answer to nobody and are holding on to billions of dollars this season.... as millions of citizens (or are they consumers?) go on being marginalized, overworked, impoverished and brainwashed by marketing.... and animals go on being commodified as if they were in no way similar to us.... and natural resources go on being extracted at the cost of many for the profit of a few....

that's what Sarah Palin might as well have said. Give thanks for the opportunities of Big Agra and Big Pharma and their triumph over the mass consciousness.

People eat meat because that's what is marketed to us. Go into any elementary school and look at the celebrity milk ads/posters all over the walls of the gyms and the lunch rooms.

Is Sarah Palin standing in front of a slaughter house any different than Carrie Underwood sticking her hips out and looking down from a poster on the wall at kids with a "milk mustache" as she rubs her 'gine up against her guitar any different? But for some reason, people buy it.

What I want to know, is what is it costing the public to have that turkey factory there? How many tax breaks are they getting? Who financed the facilities? Where does the money come from for cleaning up the execrement and waste? Where are they dumping it?

[ramblingjohnny]

Part two!
Because am on a roll!
Number 6 I can agree on that one!
Number 5 Their no way in hell that am eating a tofu turkey!
Number 4, 3, 2 and 1 just like number 9 I could not care less!

[ramblingjohnny]

Number 10: What make you think I would not eat my cat? You don't know me I might just have a taste for weird exotic pyscho food!

Number 9: What make you think cow or any other farm animals are treated better or that am going to surrender my steak or in this case my bird because of it!

Number 8: On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.

Number 7: Don't you think the fact that I get the bird frozen solid would take care of this also the five to six hours in the oven is very bad for any kind of virus not to mention that am cleaning my dish thank you very much. Not to mention that their no live bird anywhere near my diner table!

[JimGroom]

Pardon that turkey? Hell no!

Oh, you mean the one with the feathers. Sorry.

[rini]

ha