Thanksgiving is a widely celebrated holiday in the United States. In fact, it is America’s second favorite holiday after Christmas. Being a holiday centered around a meal, a lot of food is cooked and eaten on Thanksgiving each year. In 2011, 46 million turkeys were consumed on Thanksgiving Day. 46 million. Unfortunately, through widespread knowledge of the meat industry we know that some of these birds were not fed a healthy diet, pumped up with hormones, or caged in poor conditions. Part of living in Seattle is eating food that is ethical and sustainable, not grown or raised in a factory.
This article will give you some ideas on how you can cook a Thanksgiving meal using mostly local ingredients from farmers with ethical practices. It will also have tips on how you can reduce your dinner’s environmental footprint.
TURKEY & STUFFING
Let’s start with the turkey, the main focus of Thanksgiving Dinner. Dog Mountain Farm (Carnation,) a vendor at the Broadway Farmer’s Market (BFM,) sells hand-raised humane poultry. They ask for early orders for turkey but you might also try one of their cornish rock hens as an alternative. Otherwise, Trader Joe’s is selling vegetarian-fed, non-GMO turkeys. While they will most likely come from California, they are a decent choice for a well-cared for bird.
Recipe: World’s Simplest Thanksgiving Turkey
Now the dressing. Last year, Honest Biscuits (Seattle) sold easy-to-make stuffing mixes (gluten-free available) at the BFM. I added celery root and onion from Steel Wheel Farm (Fall City) to the mix and it turned out very well. If they don’t have the mixes available, use a loaf of your favorite bread from either Columbia City Bakery (Seattle) or Le Panier (Seattle) in Pike Place, and use the recipe below.
Recipe: “Simple is Best” Dressing
WINE
The first Seattle winery, Wilridge, is located not too far from campus on 34th & Union. You can pick up a bottle there or at several grocery stores in the area. Otherwise check out Eaglemount Wine & Cider (Port Townsend) or White Heron Cellars (Quincy) at BFM. Remember, white wine for turkey!
CRANBERRY SAUCE
Cranberry sauce from a can just doesn’t cut it, fresh cranberries prepared by hand make for the best concoctions. Try Bloom Creek (Olympia) cranberries at BFM, they are about $5 a pound which makes quite a bit of sauce. You might consider adding some chopped up apples, Collins Family Orchards (Selah) has the absolute best.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Sauce
PIE
This is my favorite course at Thanksgiving. I have made sweet potato pie (a fair contender to pumpkin) and if you want to follow suit, try sweet potatoes from Lyall Farms (Mattawa) at the BFM. If you want to stick to the classics, pick up sugar pumpkins from nearly any produce stand – this season has had an abundance of pumpkins!
Recipes: Sweet Potato Pie, Pumpkin Pie
Now that you have the ingredients to have a Thanksgiving dinner that is sourced locally, how do you make sure that your meal is also “green”?
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Cook only as much food as you and your guests will eat. If you do have leftovers, make sure to eat them (there are always ways to repurpose turkey) or bring them to a local shelter! And if you absolutely must discard food, compost the scraps.
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Avoid using paper plates, disposable napkins or plastic cutlery. Your ceramic or glass plates will look nicer anyways.
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Do not leave the oven or the faucet running if you don’t have to!
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Burn candles to both save electricity and create a lovely ambiance.
Small changes like these help both the local farmers and the environment. Keep that in mind and have a great Thanksgiving!