Wegmans’ spokesperson Jeanne Colleluori says the East Coast grocer has gone full-steam into selling specialty turkeys.
“This year we have a variety of turkeys. We have ‘fresh’ turkeys – and a ‘fresh’ turkey, under our private label, has up to 50 percent more white meat than the traditional bird. Also, we have what we call our Grand Champion bird, which has 50 percent more
white meat and is also a free-range bird. And any of our Wegmans’ brand turkeys are all natural – that means no additives.”
None?
“None whatsoever,” Colleluori concludes. “And we’ve also started carrying a limited number of heritage turkeys.” The range of prices for Wegmans birds ranges from .29 to .39 cents per pound for a frozen bird, up to $5.99 for a heritage turkey. That range is a decent benchmark for most grocers around the country.
She jokes that options have gotten so extensive that every year she and her colleagues joke, “Here come all the turkey questions….”
But in the midst of all this peddling and labeling and fretting, one thing seems to underlie the search for a healthier, more natural bird. And it’s a much more nuanced concept than whether or not the Thanksgiving turkey has been injected with growth-hormones or has a nice home on the range.
It’s this, says California’s farmer Pitman: “Over the past 30 years, our society has become
disconnected from the farm, and I think the consumer would like to stay connected to the farm. I think people are starting to realize they miss that.”
Pitman (shown at right with Mary, their sons and turkeys) believes that the organic movement, in general, is linked to the fact that we consumers, we Americans, long to be closer to the source of our food. We want to know where it comes from, how it was cared for. Only 30 years ago, most of us had a family member who lived on a farm, he says.
So even if we can’t get “back to the farm” this holiday or shop for our own bird at a local producer, we can take solace in knowing where our holiday spread came from. And that, alone – that we care and that we can find out – is reason enough to celebrate this Thanksgiving.
- Resources
- Local Harvest’s turkey pages, where you can search for farmers using your zip code or order turkeys directly online
- Grassfed Traditions, another online source for ordering turkeys
- Organic Prairie, a farmers co-op with more than 1,100 farms throughout the country, some of which raise turkeys
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