It is the time of year when the excessive volume of turkey consumption unfortunately reminds us of a grim reality. Judging from the dinner table’s centerpiece, most people have not given much thought to the process of getting a turkey there. This disconnect persists even though approximately 46 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving meals annually, with nearly 218 million produced in the U.S. each year. We are fed a hidden conspiracy about our food, seeing only packaging with happy farm animals, promoting meat with little challenge to the industry’s practices.

In all, 99% of these birds are raised on factory farms, where they endure immense suffering. Domestic turkeys are selectively bred to grow so large — now twice the size of turkeys from a century ago–that they suffer from painful skeletal disorders and cannot even mate naturally, requiring forcible artificial insemination. They are slaughtered between 12 weeks and five months, despite having a potential lifespan of up to 10 years.

Turkeys are stripped of their natural behaviors, like foraging and roaming their territories of over 1,000 acres, and are instead forced into high-density confinement with as little as 2.5 cubic feet per bird.

Physical damage control: Due to the extreme stress and aggressive behavior in these crowded, filthy conditions, farmers resort to physically damaging the birds without anesthetic: turkeys are routinely debeaked, detoed, and have their snoods sliced off.

Health hazards: Packed into large, windowless barns, often alongside their own excrement, birds suffer from high ammonia levels causing painful burns, lesions, and severe respiratory issues.

Antibiotics and resistance: This high-density confinement necessitates the overuse of antibiotics, which not only force faster weight gain but also contributes to the alarming rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans, such as Salmonella and Listeria, frequently resulting in product recalls and severe illness.

The factory turkey industry carries significant environmental and ethical baggage: Environmental Footprint: Turkey production contributes to CO2 emissions and creates massive quantities of untreated manure. The phosphorus in this waste pollutes waterways, fueling harmful algae growth and “dead zones” in aquatic ecosystems.

Inhumane slaughter: The birds are crammed onto trucks and shipped to the slaughterhouse. The current methods are brutal, as the Humane Slaughter Act does not apply to poultry. Turkeys are shackled upside down, often breaking their delicate bones, and run through an electrically charged water bath meant for stunning. Crucially, the stunning often fails. Birds can then miss the rotating throat-cutting blade and end up drowning in tanks of scalding water used for feather removal.

Worker conditions: The institutionalized brutality extends to the workers, who face high production speeds that lead to frequent, severe injuries, including amputations, fractures, and head trauma, averaging 17 serious accidents per month in U.S. meat plants.

How ironic that we sit around the Thanksgiving table talking about gratitude, while the centerpiece represents such profound disconnect and suffering. Turkeys are intelligent, social birds who form strong bonds and can recognize each other by their unique calls. Shame on us for the disconnect from the reality of these creatures.

Randy Johnston

Potsdam