It's time to talk turkey.
I don't know how many of you folks have worked with or around turkeys, but those of you who have can imagine what a crime it is to lock them inside the trappings of a confinement poultry operation. Turkeys are wonderfully sociable and curious creatures. Much more so than broiler chickens. They are animated, vocal and will not fail to peck at your shoelaces or the rivets on your back pocket.
Conventional
The confinement turkey farms have absolutely no respect for the personality and expression of turkeys. Their only goal is to create as many pounds of flesh as possible at the least expense. The cleverness of the industry is impressive, even if they only use it to solve the problems they've created with their greed. For example, turkeys have a very structured social order. Because of this, it's especially important to provide enough roosting space with varying elevations for the different social classes to maintain minimum aggression.
It's also important that the turkeys have enough room to maintain their personal space. Because the industry wants to pack their barns to maximum capacity and wouldn't even consider building roosts, they just cauterize the tips of the babies' beaks. So, as the turkeys grow, they can't do as much damage when the density stress makes them cannibalize each other. You'd get aggressive too if your bubble was invaded for your whole life.
Industrial turkeys don't even dream about natural light, clean air, or fresh greens. Pesticide and antibiotic-laden GMO grains are their unfair fare. Essentially, they're raised in a concentration camp, except they're overfed instead of undernourished.
Certified Organic
The Certified Organic turkey by biological necessity enjoys much better standards. Without the crutch of antibiotics, organic growers must make sure the birds have better air quality and more sanitary bedding. De-beaking is still a permissible practice although it's seldom used in small scale flocks.
By law, the organic turkey must have access to an outdoor yard, but it doesn't have to have any greenery or roosting space. I'm sure if you've read a couple of these articles, you're picking up on the pattern. Organic certification mandates organic certified feed, and forbids pharmaceuticals, but it doesn't require any respect for the turkey's natural design.
Organic certification is a standard that forbids poisoning or outright abuse of animals but doesn't mandate integrity or proper stewardship. Is that of no importance?
Harvest Haven Certified
Harvest Haven Certified is about the maximum accommodation of intelligent creatures. Turkeys are exceptional foragers. Much more so than chickens. They're able to supplement their grain-based diet with up to 30% salad and 5% bugs if you give them access to pasture.
Because turkeys love to range, forage, and roost, we have built a mobile structure, which is moved regularly to greener pastures, which grants them the needful opportunity to use their highly coordinated pointy hooked beaks to hunt for dandelions and grasshoppers.
Raising turkeys on pasture isn't just an economic incentive. We're dealing with the Nature of the Turkey and its diverse needs. They love to socialize with each other and people, and when we call, will come and stand by the fence gobbling friendily at us.
Our goal is not maximum pounds of flesh or maximum profits. Our goal is maximum respect and health for creatures provided for our benefit. We're confident that if we remain committed to the Harvest Haven standard, that there will always be enough appreciative customers to keep our labors profitable.
I'm sure you've heard it said that a people can't be healthier than the soil their food is growing in. But I would like to extend the adage. I believe that, ultimately, a person's quality of life will never exceed the quality of living they afford to the animals they eat. Think about it.
