A Tale of Two Turkeys
Posted on December 1, 2008 by
We were supposed to travel for Thanksgiving, but my husband ended up having to work, so we stayed put and had our own little Thanksgiving right here. Right when we realized we wouldn’t be able to go, I got an e-mail from a local farming listserv that there were still turkeys available. So I e-mailed that I was interested, and arranged to meet the farmer in a parking lot to pick up my turkey.
It sounds so shady, doesn’t it? It wasn’t. The lot is the site of a farm market in the summer, and they’d set up shop with coolers. And the farmers were totally not what I expected. They were younger, about my age (I’m 31), and had a baby toddling around in a snow suit.
I paid for the turkey I’d reserved, got some cooking tips, and went on my way with a 12 pounder. It was really a pleasant experience. Honestly, a year ago, I would have felt funny about buying a turkey from a farmer in a parking lot. I can be kind of shy and the whole process is a little more work and a little more personal than walking through the grocery store and putting something in your cart. It’s funny how hard it can be to work outside of your comfort range. We’re so used to being detached from our food sources. But after two years of CSA bags, and shopping at the farmer’s market, it wasn’t such a stretch to buy a turkey directly from the farmer.
Cooking the turkey was interesting too. The turkeys I’ve cooked in the past had a different stature. Conventional turkeys are bred to have bigger breasts. This turkey was well proportioned. The organs were very healthy looking and bright in color. And even though I overcooked the turkey slightly, it was the best turkey I’ve ever eaten. It reminds me of the first time I ate CSA lettuce. I couldn’t believe that lettuce could taste so good. I couldn’t believe that turkey could have such a delicate, nuanced flavor. We didn’t even put gravy on it. We used every usable part of the turkey, and didn’t let anything go to waste. There wasn’t much fat, and the fat that was there was clearer and more oily than fatty.
Over the weekend, the grocery store was having a sale on the turkeys that weren’t frozen. They were so inexpensive that I realized it would cost far less to cook fresh turkey for the dogs (yes, plural, that’s a whole other story) than it would to buy canned turkey and rice dog food. So I bought a turkey and put it in the oven yesterday. (We won’t get into the part where I got a bad steam burn on my hand when I lifted up the roasting pan lid and had to go to the ER. And we won’t talk about the fact that my co-pay at the hospital totally negated any savings, or the fact that my hand is bandaged up like a mummy and my arm is sore from the required tetanus shot, and I’m crabby.) What I would like to talk about is the difference in the second turkey. The organs were small and brownish. The breast was huge, but the meat was very pale, and the fat was yellow and thick.
Had I never seen the pasture raised turkey that was grass fed and given organic feed, I would have thought that turkey number two was a great turkey, but in comparison, it looked kind of gross.
With my dietary restrictions, I can’t see myself giving up poultry and fish (I don’t eat red meat) completely, but this whole process has gotten me thinking. I do try to buy organic/pasture raised poultry when I can. And I do try to incorporate vegitarian meals into our diet regularly, but I think I’m going to do this even more. I think I’m going to work harder to eat vegetarian and save money buy using beans and tofu as protein sources more often so we can afford to buy higher quality poultry when we do eat it. Not only does buying pasture-raised organic-fed poultry support farmers who are doing thing the right way, but it seems to be a much healthier option for us.
According to Sustainable Table:
“Free-range chickens have 21% less total fat, 30% less saturated fat and 28% fewer calories than their factory-farmed counterparts. Eggs from poultry raised on pasture have 10% less fat, 40% more vitamin A and 400% more omega-3′s.”
The full article is fastinating, you can read it here.
This whole process has reinforced that fact that for me, it’s worth a little more time and a little more effort to make sure that our food is healthy and nourishing. I really do believe the whole garbage in garbage out theory of food. I’m not saying turkey number two was garbage, but I think that maybe there’s a higher level of nourishment I’d like to work toward.
You and Crunchy Chicken have convinced me! If there is a home grown turkey to be had around her, I’m going for it.
Oh, Also I am really sorry to hear about your steam burn bummer. Bandaged head? Tetanus shot? Tell us more.
It’s amazing how different meat is when it’s raised humanely as opposed to being confined and over-fed. Let me ask you: will you continue to feed your pets store bought meats or will you feed farm fresh foods to them too?
I noticed the difference when I started buying farm eggs. For over a year we’ve been getting eggs from our neighbor. Last winter her chickens stopped laying (normal for chickens in the winter) so had to buy from the grocery store. The eggs were so gross neither Wolf nor I wanted to eat them. I sent the chickens a postcard begging them to please start laying again because the store bought eggs were inedible.
EY – Thanks for the concern! When I lifted the lid on the roasting pan, the steam burned my first and second fingers pretty badly. It’s only a first degree burn with a few spots that may be approaching second. I’ll be better soon, but it hurt so badly last night when it happened. And apparently, the burn cream I used made it worse (go figure). The nurse at the ER gave me better burn cream, bandaged me up and sent me home. But apparently, with any kind of skin injury that could lead to infection, they require a tetanus shot if you haven’t had one in 5 years. What I forgot is that tetanus shots don’t hurt when you get them, but the next morning the site is really sore.
HH- I know what you mean about eggs! I buy ours at the natural food store and they come from a local farmer. The yolks are so much more yellow and the cook better. It’s incredible.
I think I’m going to go back to feeding the dogs canned Newman’s to supplement their kibble once they finish this turkey. When you consider that the turkey used in Newman’s canned food is organic, I think it probably is a pretty good deal even though it’s more expensive. When we do buy organic poultry, I will share with them.
I go through phases where the cost of dog food really stresses me out, but it does keep Argo off of allergy meds, so I think it evens out and he’s healthier. There are other things we can cut back on instead of cutting down his food quality.
We too bought a local pastured turkey and it was the best thing ever! I don’t really like turkey, but this one wasn’t bad! Ours was a HUGE 23 pounder.
Too bad about your burn. I too make my own dog food with venison that my dad gets for me!
We had a via-the-CSA turkey for our 2nd thanksgiving this weekend too (um, yeah. Lots of families = lots of thanksgiving dinners). It was AMAZING. the meat really tasted incredibly different, and there just enough fat for the gravy, and not much more. Everyone agreed that the turkey tasted noticeably different enough that it was worth the price premium (though I didn’t confess how much THAT was).
hope your burns heal up fast!
Man, I have not tried free-range turkey, but I’d like to. I’ve been moving toward eating more local/free-range stuff, so I’ll be sure to try it one day.
Also, CSA = Confederate States of America? I’m behind on the lingo
all bandaged up & still blogging
what a champ.
That seems like a whole lot of drama cloaked in a turkey post! I hope you’re feeling better soon, because man, I remember how much my tetanus shot hurt like hell.
I’ve always said I would be willing to eat meat if it was worth it, but I never crave it, so I’ve just never gotten around to trying a fresh turkey. Sounds delish.
This I’ll file away for the time when I’m responsible for getting and cooking the turkey. I’ll also watch out for steam burns. That sounds pretty bad. A tetanus shot even? Wow. I’m glad you got to keep the hand.
Susy – Wow! 23lbs is a lot of turkey!
Karina – Yeah, there was a HUGE price difference between the two birds, but I really do think it was worth it. I think it’s just a matter of changing our thoughts about portion and quality vs. quantity.
J – CSA = Community Supported Agriculture. It’s also called a farm share. Basically, you pay a set price to a farm up front for the season and get a share of the harvest all season
Rachel – Thanks! I think I’m a blog addict!
Noelle – It is a lot for drama in a turkey post. This was a looong weekend.
Mickey- I’m glad I got to keep the hand too. It would have made it hard to type if they didn’t let me.
Loved reading this. I’ve felt the same way about all the local meat I’ve bought this summer from our local south wedge farmer’s market. I was shocked at how great the chicken was that I roasted a few weeks ago, bought fresh from one of our local sustainable farmers. I’m planning on getting a roast from another local farmer (Sweet Grass Farms in Naples, NY) for my mother to cook for us for Christmas dinner. It will be fun to eat local meat for the first time with my entire family and see what they think. I’ve been trying to limit my meat intake by insisting on local meat, which is only pricey if you eat lots and lots of meat. Our freezer has a bunch of local meat that I froze for the winter and I plan on limiting what we buy from the grocery stores and sticking to my tiny stock and hoping some friends will want to make a trip to Sweet Grass over the holiday to grab some more! (Wanna come?)
Rach – yes! Let me know when you’re going.
What a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing this journey; I’m going to forward this to many people whom I’ve been trying to convince for years. You may enjoy my friend Megan’s blog as well, she just started http://www.brooklynfarmhouse.com and features wonderful recipes for cooking local and sustainably raised food. (we include some on our Green Fork Blog as well, but her photos and descriptions are spectacular!)
I’m definitely going to seek out a free-range turkey. It’s great that you had such a close comparison, though I hate it came at the expense of your hand.
I’m curious to hear about the second dog …
[...] I’ve mentioned before, the quality of grass/organic fed poultry far exceeds that of conventional, and while a conventional whole chicken would cost less than $4.15 a pound, I love the fact that [...]