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RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—There are many compelling reasons to purchase and cook up a heritage breed turkey this Thanksgiving, but the one that just about everyone can agree on is taste. "This is what turkey's supposed to taste like," explains food writer and Rodale.com contributor Marian Burros, retired from The New York Times, who taste-tested several different breeds for the newspaper several years ago. "When you taste it, you think, 'Oh, this is why people like turkey. It's not just something to put gravy on.'" Yes, they are more expensive, ranging from $4 to more than $10 a pound. But if you have the means, investing in a heritage breed turkey this Thanksgiving supports farmers who humanely raise historical breeds that help preserve genetic diversity, keeping our food system more secure. (And clearly, you'll also be supporting your taste buds, too!) Varied flock of heritage breeds. Courtesy Ayrshire Farm. |
The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is helping to save the following turkey breeds: Black, Bronze, Narragansett, White Holland, Slate, Bourbon Red, Beltsville Small White, Royal Palm, Jersey Buff, and White Midget, among several others, as heritage breeds. Could this be the year you give up on tasteless supermarket fowl? Read on to find out why heritage birds are the best choice, plus where to buy and how to cook them.
Reason #1: Taste
Reason #2: It's Humane
Reason #3: Food Security
Where to Find a Heritage Turkey
How to Cook a Heritage Turkey
Can't Find (or quite afford) a Heritage Turkey?
Consider a standard hybrid "supermarket type" broad breasted white (BBW) turkey -- but one that was raised out on pasture by a local farmer. While it's Momma was artificially inseminated (making the breed unsustainable in the long run) a pasture-raised BBW is far more tasty and moist than it's confinement-raised siblings in the grocer's cold case are, it led a much healthier and happier (we are pretty sure the ones on our farm enjoy themselves) life, and pasturing improves the land rather than creating piles of polluting manure to get rid of. Local Harvest can help you find a source in your local area, but don't wait -- many farms are already sold out this close to Thanksgiving.