Thanksgiving 2020 - The Harsh Reality of Turkeys

News Peg

With the pandemic’s forceful second wave hitting over 170,000 cases in the United States per day, Thanksgiving family dinners are being tweaked and safety is emphasized over celebration.

While traveling has surged with nearly 50 million Americans in airports, many Americans are still being forced to sacrifice the in-person dinners and the large-scale parties, and required to wear masks and stay distanced from family members in what is typically a time of togetherness and comfort.

But one aspect of Thanksgiving traditions which hasn’t been sacrificed this year is the typical cuisine item,the very definition of the holiday for many people - the turkey. 

Being Aware of the Turkey Reality

Conditions

In natural habitats, turkeys roam around needing space to forage often in a 1,000 acres area and build nests. But these turkeys meant for breeding are kept in cramped conditions within dark sheds. Typically, instead of preventing turkeys from attacking each other in cramped spaces by giving them more space, many farmers sear off their beaks and their toes. 

These turkeys spend nearly five to six months in cages before being slaughtered for the holiday, according to PETA. Genetically mutated to weigh 40 lbs in less than five months, the turkeys are forced to live in these cages of 3.5 square feet.

According to a 2018 report, most of the turkeys don’t even make it past the first few weeks in these cages due to stress-induced conditions and starvations.

The turkeys are hung upside down and electrified to keep them alive but immobile. In 2006, PETA investigators found an Arkansas plant illegal and intentional cruelty against these turkeys from crushing the spines to breaking skulls by hitting them against walls.

In fact, the Human Slaughter Association’s “humane” way to slaughter animals like turkeys still includes electric stunning, neck cutting, gas killing, and dislocation. 

The Humane Slaughter Act, passed by the USDA Food Safety and Inspections Service (FSIS) branch in 1978, called for the humane handling of animals before and during slaughter - the act did not include turkeys and chickens. The turkeys on our Thanksgiving plates have no ethical and legal protections. 

On the Plate

More than 95% of Americans eat turkey during Thanksgiving. While five years ago almost 40 million turkeys were killed to be served on Thanksgiving dinner plates, the number is increasing yearly. Last year, 46 million turkeys were killed for Thanksgiving and the same number this year’s Thanksgiving too. In fact, with smaller parties this year due to the pandemic, families are still buying turkeys -  just smaller ones. 

229 million turkeys are slaughtered on American farms yearly from factory farms. 

These bred turkeys can live up to 10 years even in captivity, but are slaughtered within three months.

What This Means For Us

While these accounts and conditions sound gory and painful, it is a reality consumers must accept before they sit down on their Thanksgiving tables.

During this pandemic, individuals have hopefully understood to be more aware of their social and environmental footprint. Whether it is the very birth of the virus itself or the climate change-induced storms and global warming one sees that empathy for our environment, nature and animals should become a more pressing virtue to imbibe.

The conditions and data prove to show some of the cruelest and most unethical behavior for the sake of human pleasure and enjoyment.

But the more aware one becomes about his or her actions and thus the following reactions on the rest of the world, the more likely we will take action against them.

Thanksgiving represents a holiday where communities come together, families unite, and appreciation for what one has or has been blessed with is reignited. But all of this at the cost of the brutal massacre of another living being? 

A great philosopher has rightly said - “to be human is to be grateful.”

But such inhumane actions surrounding the very day founded upon the virtue of gratitude - is that not hypocritical of us?