Getting ready for Thanksgiving, I was thinking the other day about locating heritage turkey breeders in my area to source a high-quality bird for the family dinner table.
Corresponding with Slow Food USA via Twitter and email, those folks made me privy to an exciting new technology not all that unlike the heritage breed locator on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy’s website that I used a couple weeks back to find a replacement Hamburg hen for the backyard.
Slow Food USA has put together the Slow Food Thanksgiving Guide, complete with a heritage breed locator, 72 recipes in various courses that you should feel good about feeding your family, and general tips and tricks to having a “Slow Food Thanksgiving”.
Looking for farms that fit the Slow Food mission with dedication to raising appropriate breeds of animals the right way, Slow Food USA turned to the ALBC, Heritage Turkey Foundation and Local Harvest, among other organizations, to come up with a list of farms that ship nationally and do things the right way.
Visit a farmers’ market, source a turkey, check out the Slow Food USA Thanksgiving Guide, and cook a meal that would make small farmers everywhere proud. Also, take a moment to check out these websites and resources, and direct your attention and respect to these organizations fighting the good fight.
As for myself, I’ll have the privilege of slaughtering my own heritage bird Saturday for next Thursday’s feast. There is much to be thankful for this holiday season.
Follow Caleb on Twitter at @calebdregan.
Midget White tom image: courtesy American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
Caleb Reganand his wife, Gwen, live in rural Douglas County, Kansas, where they enjoy hunting, fishing, and raising and growing as much of their own food as they can. Caleb can’t imagine a better scenario than getting to work on a rural lifestyle magazine as a profession, and then living that same lifestyle right in the heartland of America. Connect with him on Google+.
