Thanksgiving Perspective?
by Hope Bohanec
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Published in the Eugene Weekly, 11/21/24
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Ah, tradition. Like the sturdy railing along the edge of the vast Grand Canyon, we cling to it with a sense of security and reassurance. Traditions are the threads that weave the fabric of society, shaping our identity and connecting us to our past. However, as each generation passes recipe cards to the next, it is imperative that we pause to examine our traditions with an eye toward ethics, sustainability and morality.
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One such tradition that is currently under the microscope is the practice of confining and slaughtering billions of farmed animals, and particularly poignant this month, the Thanksgiving turkey. The iconic image of a family gathered around a table with a massive bird carcass as the centerpiece has been etched into our collective consciousness as the quintessential scene of the fourth Thursday in November. But what was traditionally seen simply as ¡°food¡± by older generations requires deeper reflection as the ethical complications of this traditional holiday meal have become the subject of scrutiny.
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For most of us in the US, Thanksgiving is a special time for family, football, filling food, and a little time off from the daily grind. However, for many vegans, although we enjoy all these things, at no other time of the year do we feel the acute sense of why we are vegan. The mood of the holiday is about giving thanks, but how can we be grateful for our many blessings while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the suffering of millions of sensitive, sentient birds? For vegans, this paradox is particularly poignant on this holiday, when the mass consumption of turkeys is not only accepted, but expected....
