Despite thanksgiving weekend having come and gone, turkey remains on the menu for one group of people: hunters.
From October 13th to October 25th, fall turkey hunting season will be open across Ontario.
Many non-hunters have one burning question: Why not just buy your meat at the grocery store? Emile Beaudoin, a hunter, has the answer and it may surprise you.
“I actually buy more meat than I hunt, just because it’s harder to access hunted meat, though I cherish hunted meat more when I have it. Compared to grocery store meat, there’s more behind it, an experience, almost an adventure.”
But what about the taste? Beaudoin says he has a clear preference when it comes to grocery store and hunted turkey.
“Definitely grocery store meat. Unfortunately. Grocery store animals have been bred to taste amazing, while these wild hunted animals that weren’t bred in captivity to taste amazing just taste how they do.”
Although he may prefer grocery store turkey, Beaudoin says that wild hunted turkey can still be quite delicious.
“Some parts can be rather gamey, rather rough. But if there’s a will, there’s a way to cook it right and enjoy that. I know a lot of guys who make turkey jerky (with the gamey parts) to get over the taste.”
On the other side of the fence, most people are more familiar with eating turkey from a grocery store or butcher shop. Joanne Maguire, the owner of Hayter’s Turkey Farm, says that the main difference between hunted and farmed turkey is the taste of the breast meat.
“(hunted turkeys) are more dark meat… they don’t have the same breast meat. That’s the part most people really seem to like.”
While some people may be willing to sacrifice the taste benefits of farmed turkey to know that the turkey lived a happier life in the wild, Maguire says that her turkeys actually may live a safer, happier, healthier life than their counterparts in the wild.
“(the turkeys) are in comfort, in barns, well ventilated with clean water and clean feed. They’re not in cages, they can walk freely in 320 feet of barn. They won’t be a healthy looking bird at the end if we don’t treat them right.”
Not only are the turkey’s on Hayter’s Turkey Farm enjoying great food and shelter, but thanks to modern technology, their health is always under constant analysis and supervision by employees.
“With technology we have on our iPhones, we can see the temperature, humidity and ammonia levels. We have that all so that we can watch over the birds.”
Not only are the taste and the quality of the bird’s meat dramatically different, but the lives of farmed and wild turkey are dramatically different As well. While farmed turkeys may live a safer and healthier life inside a barn, they do not live a free life the way a wild turkey does. When a farm turkey is eating specially formulated feed with medication and vitamins, a wild turkey is eating insects and worms that it digs out of the dirt. When a wild turkey is being mercilessly chased by a coyote, a farm turkey is relaxing in the barn.
So next time you sit down for a delicious turkey dinner with your family, take a second to think of where your food comes from.
Comments