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Today (November 28), millions of people across the US are celebrating Thanksgiving. As well as watching football and getting together with family, one of the holiday’s most popular traditions is eating turkey.
Read more: 11 Delicious And Comforting Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes
More than 46 million turkeys are killed each year for Thanksgiving alone. Each of them was an individual capable of feeling pain and fear. As vegan alternatives increase, more and more people are abstaining from eating animals over the holidays. One person who’s been a vocal critic of Thanksgiving turkey is actor Jesse Eisenberg, who previously explained that his family celebrates “Thanksliving.”
During an appearance on now-cancelled talk show Conan, hosted by Conan O’Brien, back in 2015, the Social Network star said: “I’m mostly vegetarian, my family is vegetarian, we have vegan Thanksgiving, although my family calls it Thanksliving.”
When O’Brien asked him to define Thanksliving, Eisenberg replied: “We buy turkeys, we save turkeys, we put the pictures of the turkeys on the table.” He then clarified that they didn’t buy live turkeys, but instead “buy them in theory.” The family then goes through the pictures and speaks about the turkeys they’ve saved. “Then my sister proceeds to read for about an hour about what it’s like to be a turkey in a cage before slaughter,” Eisenberg added, to audible shock from the audience.
“And then what do you eat?,” asked O’Brien, to which Eisenberg replied: “Tofu.”
Read more: This Maple And Garlic Tofu Roast Is A Roast Ham Alternative
The cruelty behind Thanksgiving turkey
The quantity of turkey meat consumed has increased by 104 percent since 1970. The vast majority of turkeys raised and sold in the US are kept on factory farms.
Turkeys are hatched via artificial insemination and confined to large barns until they reach slaughter weight. Due to selective breeding, modern turkeys grow unnaturally fast, meaning they are ready to be killed at just a few months old (14 weeks for females and 18 weeks for males).
Mutilations – such as debeaking and detoeing – are common on turkey farms. Debeaking involves trimming their beaks to prevent them from pecking each other due to stress, while detoeing refers to removing part of their claws to reduce injury risk. These procedures are typically done without pain relief.
It’s entirely possible to create a fully vegan Thanksgiving dinner, with everything from plant-based turkey to vegan desserts now widely available.
Read more: Why Americans Should ‘Pardon a Turkey’ By Choosing A Plant-Based Thanksgiving
