Thursday, November 24, 2011

Where Turkey Is The Guest, Not The Entree

"Hi sweetheart, Mommy's here," Jamie Cohen says to one of the birds. She's named her Velma. Cohen lives in Baltimore, and drives five hours one way to attend the feast. She has sponsored one of the diners for years. Her chosen bird died of natural causes last winter. (It costs a one-time fee of $30 to sponsor a bird.) So she's picked out a new brown bird. "I wanted to pick out a new turkey and she's as sweet as she can be, loves to be petted, loves to be kissed and held," Cohen says.  As you might have guessed, Cohen doesn't serve up turkey at her Thanksgiving meal.

"We don't want to eat them," Cohen says. "They're no different than dogs and cats. They feel pleasure and pain."

The turkey feast is hosted by the Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen. Susie Coston, the Sanctuary's manager, says she wants to show people how to honor the birds that are normally part of Thanksgiving dinner. "One of the things we try to do is to let people really meet them," Coston says. "They all have names. And they all have personalities. And they all have friendships, and we want people to see them for who they are."


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