The Pardoned Turkey

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I don't want to rain on anyone's turkey day parade but I found this article about what to do with the Obama pardoned turkey fairly interesting. By the way, the tradition of pardoning a turkey isn't nearly as old as I thought it was. George H.W. Bush was the first President to pardon a turkey.

From The Atlantic...

Modern turkeys are not bred for longevity. To the contrary, they're genetically manipulated to fatten as quickly as possible and die. Breeding for commercially desirable traits--mainly large breasts--has created turkeys that are so top-heavy they can hardly walk. Sex is equally out of the question, as distortions make it physically impossible for the birds to mate (all commercial turkeys are artificially inseminated). And what's been done to them externally has an internal counterpart. Heart attacks, for example, are common in young turkeys, something that never happens in the wild.

Last year we had a heritage turkey for Thanksgiving which was fantastic. This year we're having a "modern" turkey largely because it was a gift and has been sitting in our freezer taking up lots of space (it's a 22 pounder) for quite awhile. I'm sure it'll be delicious though.