My eyes are up here.
Not what you expected from me, is it? Well, you may not know this about me, but I'm a conscientious omnivore. It means I try to eat the meat from animals I know had a decent life (and death). I'm not always on top of it, I admit, but I do my best and I feel good about my efforts on most days.
When I heard this report on Marketplace the other day about how nearly 100% of the 40 million turkeys we'll eat this month are artificially inseminated I kind of freaked out; that doesn't sound like a very nice existence to me. And you know why they can't get their groove on? Because of their giant breasts. Which we've bred into them. Because we get boners for breast meat (personally, I like the dark meat, but I'm obviously in the minority).
I have no problem eating animals. I believe it's part of the food chain system, I get it. But wow. Breeding them for huge breasts to the point where they aren't even evolutionarily viable and can't participate in turkey-loving at least once in their little turkey lives?? All I have to say to that is a big, fat UGH. That's just Machiavellian (let's not even start to talk about their living conditions, which wasn't the point of the report or even my post).
The alternative is to buy local poultry (of any variety) or a heritage turkey (they get to get down, though you pay for it; $90+ per bird).
Anyway, just thought I'd share. I believe that education is the first step to revolution, and maybe next year we'll all be able to have a heritage turkey on our tables, golden brown and resplendent in its natural creation.
I vote for turkey sex! Do you?
