Thanksgiving Turkeys

Danielle Slatkin

Date Presented:  11/26/12

Thanksgiving Turkeys

The purpose of my news report was to educate the class about the bird that they just ate on Thanksgiving.  For example, I showed the process turkeys go through to get to the slaughterhouse, as well as the effects that turkeys have on the environment and on people's health.  I displayed these facts, and showed an advertisement created by PETA, in order to let individuals in the class make an informed decision on whether or not he or she wants to continue supporting the Thanksgiving turkey industry. 

Discussion Questions:

1.     Is this an issue that Americans should care strongly about, and put as a priority?

2.     Would it be possible for Americans to break this tradition of eating turkeys? Could you give up eating turkey on thanksgiving?

3.     Is it a good tradition that the president pardons a turkey every thanksgiving?  Does this, or is this enough to promote animal rights?

Some of my Research:

·      Over 65 million turkeys are killed during the winter holiday season alone

·      The majority of these turkeys spend their entire lives confined inside massive sheds, and never set foot outside

·      In the 1960s, it took 220 days to raise a 35-pound turkey-->now, due to selective breeding and growth-promoting drugs, it only takes 132 days to raise a turkeyàfarm conditions are so harsh that the turkeys have to be pumped full of antibiotics just to stay alive

·   According to the US Dep. Of Agriculture, the single condition for the term “free-range” is that birds need to have access to the outdoorsàall other facets of a free-range turkey’s life can be indistinguishable from the living conditions of a conventionally raised bird-->turkeys, and in fact all birds, are excluded from coverage under the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, and from the Animal Welfare Act

·      Turkey skin is also contaminated with deadly pathogens and antibiotics that are passed on to the consumers

-    much of the 10 billion pounds of manure generated by 7,300 turkey farms in 33 states ends up in our drinking water, and is responsible for the release of immense amounts of methane and nitrous oxideàthe livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all transport combined

-     PETA used to support the turkey pardoning, but this year the PETA president Ingrid Newkird said “it makes light of the mass slaughter of some 46 million gentle, intelligent birds and portrays the United States’ president as being in some sort of business partnership with the turkey-killing Industry.  Turkeys do not need to be pardoned, they are not guilty of anything other than being born into a world of prejudice.  They are innocents who should be respected for who they are:  good mothers, smart birds, and interesting animals.”

Main Source:
"GREENRLogout." GaleNet. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. <http://find.galegroup.com/grnr/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DateDescend&docType=IAC&docLevel=&prodId=GRNR&tabID=T004&subjectParam=&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3A.

Other Sources (including video link-Peta.org):

"Compassion Over Killing > Harvest Compassion This Thanksgiving with an Animal-Friendly Feast!." Compassion Over Killing. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cok.net/feat/thanksgiving/>.

"Gentle Thanksgiving." Gentle Thanksgiving. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. <http://www.gentlethanksgiving.org/about/why.htm>.

"Thanksgiving: Disgrace to Turkeys: PETA's Banned Ad | PETA.org." People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): The animal rights organization | PETA.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. <http://www.peta.org/features/Thanksgiving-Grace.aspx>.

"White House Thanksgiving Tradition: Obama Pardons Turkey Named Cobbler - ABC News." ABCNews.com  - Breaking News, Latest News & Top Video News - ABC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/white-house-thanksgiving-tradition-obama-pardons-turkey-named/story?id=17767432#.UK6V17tehEE>.

Picture Link: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=795&bih=564&tbm=isch&tbnid=HM6Dy9v2mW7cnM:&imgrefurl=http://cadryskitchen.com/2010/11/18/my-wish-for-the-turkeys/&docid=3ZSUTOFuyjFjhM&imgurl=http://cadryskitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/turkeysfactoryfarm.jpg&w=500&h=333&ei=Tu-zUJ-4KuHjiAKOtIHIDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=320&vpy=258&dur=58&hovh=184&hovw=276&tx=167&ty=134&sig=110770707616431204612&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=225&start=0&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:102