Get Your Gobble Locally This Year!

By Anthony Todd in Food on Nov 13, 2009 8:00PM

Two years ago, we bought our first local turkey to serve for Thanksgiving. At the time, it was mostly an ethical decision - after reading far too much about turkeys that are too breast-heavy to walk and too stupid to mate on their own, we didn’t want any part of the turkey empire that is Butterball. We visited a farm near our parents' home in Iowa, picked out a turkey that seemed lively and drove home with it that very day. After brining and roasting, the turkey was presented to family and friends, and we realized the other reason to buy local - it tastes better. Much better.

If taste and animal treatment aren’t enough to convince you, try this - if every family in American ate just one meal made of local foods, we’d save 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s just one normal meal - imagine the impact of Thanksgiving! Not to mention, you’ll support the amazing local meat farmers who show up every year at Green City Market and the other farmer’s markets around the city.

Slow Food Chicago has created a listing of all the different local farmers who offer turkey, including 18 different producers. Some come to city markets, some will deliver, and some require pickup from the farm. If you want to spend a little more, you can try an heirloom or organic turkey - but if you want to keep your wallet intact, just try a free-range turkey grown somewhere close by. If you’re thinking about making one major organic meat purchase this year, Thanksgiving seems like an appropriate time. But act now - good turkeys are often spoken for well in advance.

Photo by i3oilermaker