Let's Talk Turkey

It’s a Thanksgiving day tradition where we sit around the table with friends and family, say a prayer, give thanks for many things, then devour a poor little animal that was cruelly raised, abused, pumped full of chemicals, shackled upside down, then unceremoniously slaughtered so that we can gorge ourselves on its flesh.

I enjoy nature. Nothing makes me happier then watching a covey of quail come to my backyard feeder, or seeing a family of deer as they wander through the neighborhood. When it comes to wiping out nature, I’m all for its protection.

As much as I love the natural world around me, there is another side of me that has a functioning brain. God, or nature, designed our bodies to be omnivorous. This means that we are biologically created to eat both meat and plants. Now I understand that some folks don’t have a firm grasp on this concept, or merely choose to ignore it, but regardless of your feelings for little critters, they are below us on the food chain.

Some people take the eating of animals too seriously. They see the family pet and think how could anybody eat another little defenseless animal. The reality of life is that we eat animals. We eat fish, cattle, chicken, and a variety of other Earthly fauna. It’s what we were meant to do. It is how we were engineered. More importantly, it is how we survive on this planet.

Seeing how animals are raised for slaughter is not a pretty sight. These visions are brought to you by those who feel that the poor turkeys are not given the opportunity to live happy full family lives out in a green field in utopia U.S.A. The hard cold fact is that for the amount of animals that we consume yearly there isn’t enough room, or at the least it would be cost prohibitive, to give them all their own acre of land to live on.

Animals that are raised strictly for food do lead crummy lives. I imagine it sucks royally to be raised for food, but it’s their purpose for living. They are bred, so that we can survive. Sort of all comes back once again to the whole survival of the fittest argument. On the food chain of life, turkeys will be eaten. If we do not consume them, then a whole variety of other animals will line up at the banquet table in our place.

There is a reason that calling someone a turkey is insulting. Being a turkey is not something to be proud of. You exist so that others can eat you. Pigs have the same social issue. It saddens me to see slaughterhouses, and to see what animals that are being raised for food must endure. In the end, I realize that it is being done this way for a purpose. The purpose of feeding us humans, after all as I have stated before, we are near the top of the food chain.

This Thanksgiving why not say a special thank you to the turkey you are about to eat. Native Americans always thank the animal they are going to eat, for giving up its life to sustain theirs. If it sort of bothers you to eat animals, then try giving some recognition to the animals’ plight. Thank them for being a part of your celebration, and let them know that their death is appreciated.