Sir, – One of the decisions many families make each year is what to prepare for the family dinner on 25th. Most choose to cook a turkey.
The typical supermarket turkey has been bred to reach market size in six to 16 weeks, housed for its short life in an indoor factory farm. It is selectively bred to have a large body and fragile bones, much like its cousin, the broiler chicken. Simply stated, it is a mass commodity product that has a miserable, short, unnatural life.
The most compassionate choice at Christmas is, clearly, a vegetarian one.
More and more ethically minded and health-conscious consumers are taking this route.
If you can’t get your head around that, the next best choice is organic, because if the bird is raised organically, there is a good chance it will have had a reasonably decent life.
It will cost you more, but then who is willing to put a price on compassion? – Yours, etc,
GERRY BOLAND,
Keadue,
Co Roscommon.