Letter: Consider holiday without a turkey

Thanksgiving is about good health, but the turkeys produced in today's factory farms are sickly birds. Their flesh is laced with cholesterol, saturated fats, hormones, antibiotics and deadly pathogens like salmonella and campylobacter. Careful adherence to government warning labels or poultry hot-line directions are required to escape acute illness.

Thanksgiving is about good harvest, but turkey production is destroying our natural resources. Each year the 7,300 U.S. turkey factories spew out 10 billion pounds of manure into our water supplies.

Thanksgiving is about life and liberty, but the 330 million turkeys killed in the United States each year experience none. They are crammed into large sheds filled with toxic fumes. Their beaks and toes are trimmed to reduce damage from stress-induced aggression. After 16 weeks of misery, they are beheaded by an electric saw while fully conscious.

Fortunately, wholesome holiday fare is widely available. Mail-order meatless "turkeys" can be ordered, and vegetarian websites on the Internet offer delightful Thanksgiving recipes.

DEBBIE DILL

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