Choose to celebrate a compassionate holiday: Adopt a turkey instead of eating one this Thanksgiving!
At Farm Sanctuary, we celebrate compassion instead, honoring turkeys for who they are. You, too, have the power to embrace kinder holiday traditions.
Below are five reasons you should leave turkeys off your plate this year…and consider adopting a turkey instead!
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, and being grateful. However, the traditional centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal – the turkey – comes at a huge cost to the environment, workers, public health, and of course the turkeys themselves. Here are 10 compelling reasons why you should skip the turkey this Thanksgiving and consider more humane alternatives.
1. Turkeys Suffer on Factory Farms
Over 99% of turkeys raised in the US come from factory farms, where they are crammed by the thousands into windowless sheds. These intelligent, social birds are unable to engage in most natural behaviors like flying, dust bathing, or building nests. To prevent injuries from overcrowded conditions, turkeys are painfully “debeaked” and detoed. Their rapid growth causes deformities and heart problems. Simply put, turkeys suffer tremendously in today’s industrialized system.
2. Meat Recalls are Common
Despite the routine use of antibiotics, turkey meat is frequently recalled due to contamination with salmonella, listeria and other bacteria Just weeks before Thanksgiving 2022, more than 11 million pounds of turkey meat were recalled at major retailers like Aldi and Trader Joe’s. Eating turkey isn’t worth the risk of foodborne illness
3. It’s Horrible for the Environment
Raising turkeys generates huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, pollutes waterways with phosphorus from manure, and uses valuable land and water resources. A plant-based Thanksgiving meal has a much lower eco-footprint.
4. Turkeys are Intelligent and Emotional
Turkeys have unique personalities, feel strong emotions, and form bonds with flockmates. A turkey mother will care lovingly for her poults. Yet turkeys in agriculture are treated as mere meat-producing machines. They deserve far better.
5. It Promotes Antibiotic Resistance
The routine use of antibiotics on farms breeds dangerous antibiotic-resistant superbugs that can infect humans and are difficult to treat. Each year, over 2 million Americans get antibiotic-resistant infections, causing at least 23,000 deaths.
6. The Slaughter Process is Horrific
There is no “humane slaughter” for turkeys. Common practices like electrical stunning often fail, leaving birds fully conscious when their throats are cut open. Others are painfully dumped into scalding water while still alive. Choosing plant-based foods spares turkeys this unimaginable suffering.
7. It Harms Workers Too
Processing turkey meat causes debilitating injuries to many slaughterhouse workers. Amputations, severe cuts, and repetitive stress injuries are common due to the relentless push for speed on assembly lines. A plant-based meal supports safer conditions for food workers.
8. It Contributes to Global Health Risks
Cramped, filthy turkey barns can incubate and spread dangerous new viruses. The 2009 swine flu pandemic likely originated in industrial pig facilities. Experts warn that packing thousands of birds together facilitates contagion and heightens risks to human health.
9. There are Delicious Alternatives
Today there are more turkey alternatives than ever before from brands like Tofurky, Fieldroast, and Gardein. Or you can make your own hearty main dish from lentils, chickpeas, or seitan. A plant-based Thanksgiving feeds more people with less environmental harm.
10. You Can Start a Kinder Tradition
Choosing a compassionate plant-based meal sets a positive example, especially for children. Adopting a turkey through Farm Sanctuary or doing a food drive for the needy are ways to embody gratitude. New traditions can evolve – just as tofurky wasn’t on the first Thanksgiving.
This Thanksgiving, let’s be thankful for our own good fortunes by sparing a turkey’s life. Our individual choices collectively have an enormous impact. If each person replaced turkey with plant-based foods, millions of feeling, thinking turkeys would be granted a happier life next year. That’s something we can all be thankful for.
Turkeys Are Bred for Painful Rapid Growth
Factory-farmed turkeys are selectively bred to grow to an unnatural size quickly, reaching market weight in just four months. By that age, today’s factory-farmed males are roughly triple the weight of adult wild male turkeys. This breeding for maximal production and profit leaves many birds suffering from deformities and heart conditions and too large to fly, roost, or mate naturally. Burdened by their body weight, some cannot stand or reach their water and food.
Nearly All U.S. Turkeys Are Raised on Factory Farms
Each year, more than 200 million turkeys are slaughtered for food in the U.S. — and over 99 percent of U.S. turkeys are raised on industrial farms and kept in severely crowded and unsanitary conditions. They are given little or no care and denied the chance to engage in many natural behaviors, like nesting, rooting in the grass for food, or perching. Sheds are filled with ammonia and animal waste, which is harmful to both birds and human workers and puts both at risk for respiratory conditions.
Why you shouldn’t eat turkeys for Thanksgiving
FAQ
Why should you not eat turkey on Thanksgiving?
Turkeys are faced with intentional cruelty and abuse
After only five months of life, turkeys are crammed into a truck and sent on a path to their death. During transport, turkeys are not protected with appropriate shelter, food or water. This stressful transport alone results in the loss of many turkeys.
Does the Bible say not to eat turkey?
God also lists birds and other flying creatures that are unclean for consumption (verses 13-19). He identifies carrion eaters and birds of prey as unclean, plus ostriches, storks, herons and bats. Birds such as chickens, turkeys and pheasants are not on the unclean list and therefore can be eaten.
Why should people eat chicken instead of turkey on Thanksgiving?
Some families opt for chicken due to personal preference, dietary restrictions, or smaller gatherings where a whole turkey might be excessive. Ultimately, Thanksgiving is about gathering with loved ones and enjoying a meal together, so if chicken works for you and your family, that’s perfectly fine!
What is unhealthy about eating turkey?
When it comes to turkey, however, gaining a few extra pounds isn’t the only concern; with a high fat content, poultry appears to promote diabetes and the …