Turkey Troubles - History, Factory Farms & Why We Should Eat Local Meat

Welcome to Food Slain. Today we’re talking about turkey…it’s Thanksgiving next week and I figured I should share a few little facts about turkeys, a little bit about the history of the original Thanksgiving, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and that first meal, and maybe give you a few reasons why you might want to consider supporting a local farmer where you live and get close to your holiday food.

We consume almost 2 billion pounds of turkey meat each year, and most of that is turkey raised in commercial facilities. The truth is, the welfare of these wonderfully curious animals is threatened at these large production facilities. An organization by the name of Mercy for Animals did an exposé in 2011 which resulted in a first ever, felony animal cruelty conviction. Historic!

As we enter the holiday season, this serves as an important reminder that we control the market, as consumers. We can vote with our dollar - and many of us do. There's no shortage of bad actors out there, and if there's one thing you know I don't like, it's liars. Check out my "Why I Talk Dirty...About Food" video, and we'll keep talking until they stop giving us something to talk about....because there is NO consequence to speaking up, if what you're saying is true. Boom!

Thanks for listening. Share this episode with someone you love, and I'll see you on the other side of the plate. Chow.