Photo by Alan Vernon
Ever see a turkey you didn’t like? Vegans love turkeys so much they would never think of eating them so on this Thanksgiving day who do you think turkeys give thanks for when only one of them gets the presidential pardon?
Ever sign in to your e-mail and see some ad for turkey day or have you counted the number of TV ads that no longer even mention the word “thanks” when speaking of the “Thankful Thursday” yet to come? How did thanksgiving become shortened to turkey day anyway? To me turkey day would be the day everybody decides not to eat turkey, to give the turkeys a chance to live. The first thanksgiving was made possible by the Native Americans teaching the settlers how to farm in this new environment and corn and vegetables were much more a part of thanksgiving than turkeys although there might have been a few on the table. So why is the emphasis now on turkey and does that mean vegans are left out of a day of thanks?
Vegans have a lot to be thankful for. Normal healthy cholesterol levels from not eating animal products, being able to be active after a meal of thanks instead of getting that sleepy turkey feeling, and a clear conscience. Is it divisive to call it turkey day? I mean wouldn’t you want a holiday based on the emotion of thankfulness to be all-inclusive? Clearly, the irony of associating the national day of thanks with the nickname “turkey day” is all about creating more sales of turkey and an affront to the original meaning of the holiday and all those who celebrate it.
Few vegans ever started out their life being vegan but somewhere along the way they made a conscious decision to be “thankful” that there are so may diverse species of plants in the world which make thriving on a plant based diet quite rewarding. Even when I used to eat turkey I did not like Thanksgiving Day being called “turkey day.” I think most turkey eaters would agree it spoils the concept of giving thanks. The day was not created to eat turkeys, the day was created to celebrate life and be thankful for a chance to live. The pilgrims had a rough journey across the sea and then found it nearly impossible to grow food so without the help of Native Americans they were in threat to perish. You can just imagine the feeling of thankfulness at that first meal. People eat potatoes, candied yams, green beans, collard greens, corn, olives, nuts, carrots, celery, cranberries sauce and even salads on Thanksgiving Day and usually the chefs have made these items very tasty and the people are thankful to have them.
Then they watch the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions play various teams while the camera screen is filled with animated turkeys on the scoreboards and even commentators diagramming the huge turkey that is given away to the winning team. That’s ok if you love to eat turkey and even better if you love to sell turkey meat, but isn’t it insulting that a day of thanks has been reduced to a day of national celebration of the slaughter and consumption of turkeys? What do we care about more “giving thanks” or “eating turkey?”
What kind of nation has this become in a little over 200 years since the pilgrims first celebrated that thanksgiving meal? People can choose to eat what ever they want on Thanksgiving Day but what if the cranberry lobby was to out bid the turkey lobby and get all the ads changed to “cranberry sauce day?” Do you think people might be more offended then?
Can we take the emphasis off personal food choices and put it back on giving thanks this Thanksgiving Day? I care what I put in my body and others are free to make that choice for themselves so if we take personal food choices out of the equation we all can join in the emotion of thanks together. Give Thanks and Praises! You are free to eat anything you want this thanksgiving without the pressure of having to buy a turkey so give thanks for life, for water, for air and for sunlight. And don’t forget to thank those Native Americans and the plants they produced that saved the lives of the pilgrims.
Much love, Enjoy Thanksgiving Day to the fullest!