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Article: Talking about turkeys: Why does the U.S. celebrate its heritage by feasting on a bird it despises?
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- November 18, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Like most people in post-War America, I grew up eating turkey at Thanksgiving without ever having met an actual turkey. This changed, however, when I went to work at an animal sanctuary that had a large number of turkeys _ white domestic turkeys rescued from a hatchery dump, somewhere in Pennsylvania. What impressed me most about these birds, in addition to their surprising friendliness, was the fluty pathos of their voices. It floated around the farm yard and has stayed in my mind ever since.
A few years later I adopted a turkey of my own, a white domestic turkey hen named Mila. From the start, Mila bonded with our little brown hen, Muffie. They foraged together ...