"Turkey, selectively bred so fat for so long ..." (From The San Diego Union-Tribune).
Decades of breeding fat turkeys yields sumptuous Thanksgiving
By Paul Elias
ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 21, 2001
SAN FRANCISCO – Pity the Thanksgiving turkey, selectively bred so fat for so
long that simply walking can be a problem and sex is no longer possible.
For at least 50 years, farmers have single-mindedly plucked the fattest and fastest
growing turkeys from their flock and bred them together to yield the most
sumptuous breast meat. The result: this year most of the 267 million turkeys that
will be commercially sold in the U.S. have breasts so large that the males are
physically unable to mate.
Instead, fat female turkeys are artificially inseminated by man.
The commercial turkey industry is unapologetic. Turkey breeders say they're
giving us what we want for Thanksgiving.
"The U.S. consumer wants white meat," said Sherrie Rosenblatt, a spokeswoman
with the National Turkey Federation in Washington D.C. "And it goes far beyond
Thanksgiving. The sandwich you ordered at lunch is white meat."
Breeders are able to grow turkeys bigger and faster than ever through a
vitamin-laden diet and technological improvements in genetics.
The turkeys aren't genetically engineered, Rosenblatt said. In laboratories and in
the field, breeders weed out turkeys with unwanted genes while funneling coveted
ones into mass production. Female turkeys take 14 weeks to grow to 15 pounds
while male turkeys – "toms" – take 18 weeks to plump to 35 pounds.
Much of the genetic breeding process, though, is still done by sight. Workers
watch turkeys walk down an aisle and cull the lame and weak.
"They pick the animals that eat the most before they are satisfied," said Joy
Mench, a University of California, Davis professor who specializes in poultry.
White-feathered turkeys are also selected for breeding while their darker colored
relatives are culled from the flock. Dark-feathered turkeys have unsightly blemishes
on the skin.
Not all livestock experts appreciate the lengths the turkey industry has gone to
provide the nation with an abundance of white meat.
"They've bred animals that grow so fat and fast that their hearts and lungs can't
support the growth," said Gene Bauston, co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, which
aims to prevent farm animal cruelty and promotes a vegan diet. "The birds are so
heavy that their feet and legs can't support their bodies."
Bauston said he fears industry research will lead to even more efficiently grown fat
turkeys, all with nearly identical genes.
"As a result, the odds increase that the turkeys will be wiped out by a single
disease or virus," Bauston said.
Bauston said he will dine on "tofurkey," a turkey-shaped slab of tofu, and
vegetables on Thursday.
© Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. |
