Let's talk Turkey!!!!!

We are currently just finishing the first unit of our Food For Thought course, and I must say it has been fairly interesting. From origins of food, to foraging for the very food we put in our bodies; taking a closer look at food is what this term’s class is all about. The first field experience we went on was to Metropolis coffee company. That was really interesting because it set off the interest and idea for our action project. There, they made sure they tracked where the coffee bean was coming from, what conditions was it in, what conditions are the workers in; so that you get that delicious, rich cup of coffee. For our action project we decided to take it a step further and look at an ingredient that our family uses and trace its origin and also give insight to the steps it took that ingredient, to get to our families’ kitchen. I put all of my research into an autobiography; putting myself in the shoes of the ingredient and telling its life story. I hope you find it intriguing and enjoyable!

Oh, hi. I'm glad that you kept reading. Well since you’re here, i’ll tell you a little bit about my origin story and how it relates to where I am today. To start the story off, I’ll start back in the 1500s. This is the time where I was discovered by the indigenous people of what is now mexico. I don’t really remember much of that specific time i spent with those people, but i remember what happened afterwards. According to “now I know.com”, in 1524 some people in Hernan Cortez’s expedition found me and my family and took me to their homeland; England. Apparently that's where everybody thinks I came from, but you know; the usual “hide the truth and deceive everyone” mentality of today. Anyway, enough about that. 

Let's get back to my story. After getting to England, there were so many things I saw that I wasn't too happy with. Animal abuse, Humans being used as cattle. It was totally messed up. They also used us as a source food and I thought that at that point that my species would go extinct. After my time in England, I was shipped all over the world as a trade item. During the trades and negotiations I was bred with other “species” of birds. This prevented us turkeys, from going extinct. After the trades back then, we lived our lives as birds, doing bird things until we found out their plans for using us as food. We were too late in realizing this, and as a result some of us got taken and slaughtered, give hormones, abused, and put in plastic cases where you humans would just buy us. At first it was kind of depressing because it seemed as though you did not care that this was happening, and there was nothing we could do about it. 

So this continued to happen to us until I got used in common recipes by various families, as i was in the Hammond family. They use me in spaghetti, meatloaf, tacos, and their family favorite meat pies. That family purchases butterball turkey products in bulk at a store called Costco, to make these recipes. Apparently butterball farms is located in north Carolina which means the turkey was sent there a very long time ago as a trade item. This is the short version of my life story. A lot of people use me in their recipes and don’t know my history. Hopefully my story helped you understand food origins a little bit more.

JH. Food family Tree. (2019)

“Frequently Asked Questions | Butterball®.” Butterball.Com, 2016, www.butterball.com/about-us/faqs/product-information. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

“How Turkey Got Its Name | Now I Know.” Nowiknow.Com, 2010, nowiknow.com/how-turkey-got-its-name/. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

Viegas, Jen. “Native Americans First Tamed Turkeys 2,000 Years Ago.” Seeker, Seeker, Feb. 2010, www.seeker.com/native-americans-first-tamed-turkeys-2000-years-ago-1765012713.html. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.