You know I like to make my life difficult in so many ways: visiting 3-5 grocery stores a month to find organic and local food, trying to eat gluten and corn syrup-free at every meal, eating only fair trade chocolate and saving every scrap of food in my house for the worm or outdoor compost. So it should come as no surprise to you that I pre-ordered rare, heritage breed turkeys for Thanksgiving this year - oh, and I've never, ever cooked a turkey before.
In hosting my first ever Thanksgiving for my family, it was important to me to prepare a thoughtful meal based on my values, so that meant not buying a Butterball turkey. I wanted a turkey that was raised humanely (free range, no genetically enlarged breast so they can actually stand on their own feet), ate a healthy diet free from hormones and antibiotics, and of course, tasted great, just like the other meat and poultry I consume. I learned about heritage breed produce and animals from the Slow Food movement and reading books like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Barbara talked about raising and preparing a delicious, Bourbon Red turkey - and I just had to try it for myself.
What does heritage breed mean? Sustainable Table explains it best, "Traditionally, farmers throughout the world have raised thousands of different animal breeds and plant varieties. However, since today's industrial farms rely upon only a few specialized types of livestock and crops, thousands of non-commercial animal breeds and crop varieties have disappeared, along with the valuable genetic diversity they possessed. Fortunately, a growing number of sustainable farmers are preserving agricultural variety and protecting biodiversity by raising 'heritage' or 'heirloom' animal breeds and crops."
Basically, there are a lot of food flavors out there going extinct, and instead of preserving that heirloom tomato or heritage breed turkey (like you would an endangered animal or flower) we need to eat them instead, creating demand and encouraging local farmers to grow them.
So that's what I did. I looked far and wide to find a Bourbon Red Turkey in Chicagoland and came upon a local farm about 2 miles away that raises them, Caveny Farms. I pre-ordered two 18-pound turkeys (one for dinner, one for leftovers) back in July.
Farmer Connie from Caveny called me last week and said there were unable to raise turkeys larger than 16.5 pounds, and wanted to make sure that was OK with me. No sweat, less cooking time for me (P.S. I LOVE that I now know the farmer who raised my turkeys).
I picked up the turkeys on Saturday from the Green City farmer's market in Lincoln Park. I also ordered all of my produce and dairy from Irv and Shelly's Fresh Picks CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and picked it up at their warehouse in Niles, IL. I purchased the rest of the packed items, cheese and produce we needed from the coop we belong to, The Dill Pickle in Logan Square (Chicago).
I just read somewhere the average American spends $45 on Thanksgiving dinner and purchases roughly 40% of their meal pre-packaged or from a restaurant (I'm thinking, Boston Market?). To answer the question on your minds, yes, I spent a boatload of dough to buy all sustainable, organic or local produce and turkeys, a lot more than $45. I haven't added it all up yet (I will - stay tuned). BUT, considering people spend about $495 per person on travel, and I'm not going anywhere this Thanksgiving, the money I spent is a kick in the bucket.
I think the cost is worth it to share with my family a meal they can feel good about, to physically feel good after we eat the meal, and one that adheres to my food values. My antics aren't for everyone, that's for sure. But hopefully 10 years from now, a conversation about all of the work, research I did and the large amount of money I spent to prepare a sustainable, organic meal for Thanksgiving will be an antiquated one.
Where to find Heritage Turkeys?
http://heritageturkeyfoundation.org/
Find a local Slow Food chapter
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/local_chapters/
Sign up for CSA Produce Delivery
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
In hosting my first ever Thanksgiving for my family, it was important to me to prepare a thoughtful meal based on my values, so that meant not buying a Butterball turkey. I wanted a turkey that was raised humanely (free range, no genetically enlarged breast so they can actually stand on their own feet), ate a healthy diet free from hormones and antibiotics, and of course, tasted great, just like the other meat and poultry I consume. I learned about heritage breed produce and animals from the Slow Food movement and reading books like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Barbara talked about raising and preparing a delicious, Bourbon Red turkey - and I just had to try it for myself.
What does heritage breed mean? Sustainable Table explains it best, "Traditionally, farmers throughout the world have raised thousands of different animal breeds and plant varieties. However, since today's industrial farms rely upon only a few specialized types of livestock and crops, thousands of non-commercial animal breeds and crop varieties have disappeared, along with the valuable genetic diversity they possessed. Fortunately, a growing number of sustainable farmers are preserving agricultural variety and protecting biodiversity by raising 'heritage' or 'heirloom' animal breeds and crops."
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| Bourbon Red Turkeys |
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| Butterball Turkeys |
Basically, there are a lot of food flavors out there going extinct, and instead of preserving that heirloom tomato or heritage breed turkey (like you would an endangered animal or flower) we need to eat them instead, creating demand and encouraging local farmers to grow them.
So that's what I did. I looked far and wide to find a Bourbon Red Turkey in Chicagoland and came upon a local farm about 2 miles away that raises them, Caveny Farms. I pre-ordered two 18-pound turkeys (one for dinner, one for leftovers) back in July.
Farmer Connie from Caveny called me last week and said there were unable to raise turkeys larger than 16.5 pounds, and wanted to make sure that was OK with me. No sweat, less cooking time for me (P.S. I LOVE that I now know the farmer who raised my turkeys).
I picked up the turkeys on Saturday from the Green City farmer's market in Lincoln Park. I also ordered all of my produce and dairy from Irv and Shelly's Fresh Picks CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and picked it up at their warehouse in Niles, IL. I purchased the rest of the packed items, cheese and produce we needed from the coop we belong to, The Dill Pickle in Logan Square (Chicago).
I just read somewhere the average American spends $45 on Thanksgiving dinner and purchases roughly 40% of their meal pre-packaged or from a restaurant (I'm thinking, Boston Market?). To answer the question on your minds, yes, I spent a boatload of dough to buy all sustainable, organic or local produce and turkeys, a lot more than $45. I haven't added it all up yet (I will - stay tuned). BUT, considering people spend about $495 per person on travel, and I'm not going anywhere this Thanksgiving, the money I spent is a kick in the bucket.
I think the cost is worth it to share with my family a meal they can feel good about, to physically feel good after we eat the meal, and one that adheres to my food values. My antics aren't for everyone, that's for sure. But hopefully 10 years from now, a conversation about all of the work, research I did and the large amount of money I spent to prepare a sustainable, organic meal for Thanksgiving will be an antiquated one.
Where to find Heritage Turkeys?
http://heritageturkeyfoundation.org/
Find a local Slow Food chapter
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/local_chapters/
Sign up for CSA Produce Delivery
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/