It’s not too early to think about Thanksgiving and what you’ll be putting on your dinner table.  The turkey you buy in the grocery store isn’t exactly what the pilgrims were eating a few hundred years ago.  Turkeys are a native bird to America, but today’s grocery store turkeys don’t resemble the wild ones of early Thanksgivings.  Here’s why:

1. Our turkeys are factory farmed and might not ever walk outside and see the sunshine… sad for them and less healthy for us.
2. We’ve bred turkeys to have bigger, white breasts.
3. To tenderize these larger breasts processors inject them with additives like saline, vegetable oils, emulsifiers and artificial flavors… which could be up to 9% of the weight you’re paying for!
4. Commercially farmed birds are less lean.
5. Today’s turkeys could be fed grains which have been genetically modified, or grown with herbicides or insecticides (yuck)!

Start reading those labels.  Thanks to our practice member Dave for sharing photos of the labels he saw while shopping.  After shopping around, Dave decided to pre-order his turkey from a local farmer’s market to be sure he was getting the healthiest bird for his family’s celebration.  You’re not too late yet to find yourself a special turkey.  Look for one that has been fed an organic diet, pasture-raised and hasn’t been injected with additives during processing.  Many local farmers and natural food stores require pre-ordering, so don’t delay.  Thanksgiving is right around the corner!