Is there such thing as an ethically produced Christmas Turkey?

With the holidays fast approaching, I am faced with an interesting dilemma. My mother, who has become increasingly supportive of my vegan lifestyle choice, asked if I would grant a reprieve for Christmas and eat some turkey.

She offered to get an organic free range turkey. I told her that the terms ‘organic’ and ‘free range’ mean nothing when it comes to animal cruelty.

 Organic simply means that the animals aren’t fed antibiotics or animal by-products, along with a few other stipulations.

The major problem with the term organic is that Canada is currently transitioning from a voluntary system, whereby anyone could call their product organic and get away with it, to a government regulated system. The problem I have with this is that the transition is a slow and gradual one, and the other problem is that the slaughter houses themselves don’t have to be certified as organic.

 ‘Free range’ simply means that the animals are allowed access to the outdoors. In practise however, hundreds of ‘free range’ chickens are often crammed into a filthy barn with a tiny door leading to a dirt pen, and most of them never able to venture outside. The tiny door leading to the dirty holding pen represent a technicality, a minimum threshold that, once met, allows the producers to sell their eggs and chickens for a 200% to 300% mark-up.

The term ‘free range’ invokes images of healthy laying hens, living in a whitewashed henhouse, their eggs gently hand picked by a loving farmer.

In reality, this isn’t what is happening.

The only way to really know if the food you are eating is coming from an ethical farm is if you go to the farm itself. Unless you are allowed to view the facility, see how the animals are raised and ‘processed’, then you cannot be sure if the animals led a good life and were slaughtered humanely.

My mother then offered to take a field trip out to the farm, to make sure. I told her I wasn’t certain if I wanted her to do that. I wouldn’t want her to go through all the trouble to get a special turkey, only to find that I couldn’t bring myself to eat it for Christmas dinner.

The more important question for me is why is it so important for me to eat turkey on Christmas?

Well, I know why. As humans, we have deeply rooted traditions which centre around the consumption of roasted meat. This harkens back to our days roasting wild boar over a fire as cavemen.

As a child growing up, the smell of prime rib on a chilly Sunday evening meant family dinner. It meant togetherness. It meant lingering over a lovingly prepared meal, grounding ourselves as a family unit and sharing in a comforting ritual before the long week ahead.

Can such togetherness be shared if people are eating vegetables? Does the presence of tofu preclude the presence of family?

To be fair to my mother, I am researching the possibility of an ethical grey area. A meat eater’s utopia where they can consume ethically raised and slaughtered meat.

Traditional farmers once upheld the ideal that an animal raised for slaughter should be allowed to live a rich life. Not just a life free from cruelty, but a rich and fulfilling life.

An animal should be allowed to perform species specific behaviours such as spreading its wings, grazing, pecking, and burrowing. It should be allowed to select mating partners, give birth, raise its young, take part in complex social hierarchies. And at the end of a fulfilling life, they should be granted a death nobler than they would have met in the wild (Ie. Being eaten by a predator or dying of illness or wound).  

This is utopia.

Currently, less than 1% of the meat eaten in Canada was produced under such conditions. 99% off all meat found in stores and restaurants is factory farmed.

I googled “Fraser Valley Turkey Farms” and was led to several farm websites. I have emailed them the following email:

Hi there!

I was wondering if your farm grants the public access to your farming facilities. Would it be possible for me to come see the conditions that the birds live in prior to slaughter? Or, would it be possible for me to come and see how the birds are actually slaughtered?

I was also curious about the following things:

What is the average age of each bird when it is slaughtered? Are the birds typically allowed to reproduce before slaughter?

Do you practise traditional methods of animal husbandry? Or are the birds artificially inseminated?

Are the birds able to reproduce on their own? Ie. Do their reproductive organs have full functionality?

Do you have a regular veterinarian who treats ill animals? What is your company policy with respect to ill or diseased animals?

Do you currently have any policies or procedures to ensure that the birds exist in an environment with a stable social hierarchy?

What procedures do you use to ensure that the workers in charge of handling the birds are treating the animals humanely? Are job applicants subject to any sort of screening process?

Are you workers paid a living wage?

Have you obtained SPCA Certification?

Are your animals raised organically? Are you currently certified by the Canada Food Inspection Agency as an organic producer?

I am desperately seeking a local, ethical, meat producer. I want to know if there are still decent farmers out there. I want to believe in something.

Please let me know if this is you.

Sincerely,

Jenny Duffy

I do not know which farms, if any, will get back to me. But I will update this blog with my findings.