Rethinking the Thanksgiving Turkey 17 November 2025 Rethinking the Thanksgiving Turkey A mother turkey sheltering her poults, courtesy of United Poultry Concerns During November, the turkey takes center stage as a symbol of American tradition. Beneath gratitude lies a paradox, as Karen Davis wrote: “Thanksgiving has other functions, but one thing it does is to formalize a desire to kill someone we hate and make a meal out of that someone.” The turkey is both sentimentalized and scorned, celebrated and sacrificed. This tension reflects a deeper ritual function. The Thanksgiving turkey serves as a ritual scapegoat—a symbolic victim through which we channel collective guilt and unease. Through the ceremonial slaughter and consumption of the bird, we engage in a form of ritualized violence that simultaneously reaffirms our moral identity and strengthens social unity. Similar patterns appear in other cultural practices, such as Kaporos, in which a chicken is swung and sacrificed to symbolically absorb human transgressions. In both instances, the animal becomes a surrogate, bearing what the community prefers not to confront directly. Industrial agriculture amplifies this tension. Today’s turkeys, bred for unnatural size and docility, bear little resemblance to their wild ancestors—agile birds who once roamed freely. But as Karen Davis reminds us, “What their behavior actually reveals is an empathetic sensibility that should awaken us to how terribly we treat them and make us stop.” However altered by human hands, they remain sentient beings—feeling, perceptive, and no less deserving of compassion than their wild kin. Their very visibility at Thanksgiving prevents them from vanishing completely into the anonymity of meat. Their presence as the centerpiece forces us, however briefly, to confront the life behind the meal. However, change is possible. More and more people are celebrating a compassionate all-vegan Thanksgiving. Across the country, sanctuaries now host Thanksgiving gatherings where turkeys are honored as guests rather than served as food. Though modest, these celebrations point toward the vision of a Thanksgiving that celebrates life rather than death. They remind us that compassion and abundance can coexist, inviting us to imagine rituals that reflect empathy as well as tradition. – Liqin Cao & Franklin Wade, United Poultry Concerns What Can We Do to Help Turkeys? We Can Get to Know Turkeys By Reading More Than a Meal More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality –This scholarly and authoritative book examines the cultural and literal history, as well as the natural history and biological needs and concerns of turkeys. And much more! Order today! Also available as a Free PDF We Can Advocate for Turkeys Organize or attend an outreach event using UPC’s Turkeys brochures and posters. UPC 2025 White House Leafleting for Turkeys (See more photos here and here.) We Can Pioneer New Traditions Share delicious vegan dishes like Mrs. Gobble-Good's Golden Brown Pie with friends and family this holiday season. References: Karen Davis, “The ‘Thanksgiving’ Turkey: Object of Sentimentality, Sarcasm, & Sacrifice,” United Poultry Concerns, Nov. 27, 2022. Karen Davis, “The Thanksgiving Turkey as Ritual Scapegoat in the Carnivalesque Tradition,” United Poultry Concerns, Nov. 17, 2018. Karen Davis, “Turkeys: Sympathy, Sensibility, and Sentience,” United Poultry Concerns, Nov. 19, 2019. United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. Don't just switch from beef to chicken. Go Vegan. www.UPC-online.org View this article online United Poultry Concerns | PO Box 150, Machipongo, VA 23405 Unsubscribe Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!