Interesting Stuff
Talking Turkey At Food Bank
December 15, 2006 
We got this plea in from the Idaho Food Bank today with a request that we share it with GUARDIAN readers.
The Idaho Food bank currently has or anticipates it will receive 3,590 turkeys and hams, but it has received requests for 4,855. The Food bank needs to acquire an additional 1,265 turkeys and hams by Wednesday, Dec. 20 to meet the need in the Treasure Valley.
For Thanksgiving, public generosity allowed The Idaho Food bank to deliver 4,485 turkeys, hams and chickens (as requested) to families across the Treasure Valley. As of Friday, Dec. 15, the Food bank had requests for 4,855 turkeys and hams – nearly 400 more than were delivered for Thanksgiving. Requests have jumped markedly in the past few days.
Turkey drives are going on across the valley, but the need is great among our working-poor families and senior citizens. Idaho is the eighth hungriest state in the country as measured by the US Department of Agriculture. At the holidays, the need for emergency food seems especially acute.
In addition to all the school and business turkey drives, anyone who would like to donate can drop turkeys at any Les Schwab tire store or at RC Willey. Cash donations will be used to buy turkeys.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Dec 15, 2006, 1:59 pm
Check’s in the mail.
EDITOR NOTE–Nicely done and timely!
Dec 15, 2006, 5:11 pm
They aren’t that expensive. I’ll pick up 2 Monday.
Frozen or un frozen?
Editor Note–Frozen probably is easier and safer to work with.
Dec 15, 2006, 9:11 pm
Thanks for the update. While you are on the subject of Turkeys can I put in a plug for supporting our local food system? Did you know currently we have no legal local poultry processing. Those Turkeys you are asking people to donate are shipped in (using large amounts of fossil fuel) from massive processors that are inhumane, genetically manipulated and enviornmentally dangerous. O did I mention they are probably not very good for us. This is all about to change… A friend of mine, Janie Burns, is about to open a processor in New Plymouth called Homegrown Poultry.
As a legally inspected processing facility (our regions first) Janie and her partner Jack will be able to take any locally raised poultry, foul and rabbits (I don’t support the killing of friendly rabbits!) and process them. This would include any of us that wanted to raise chickens in our backyards. Legally we can raise 3 at a time in the city limits. It’s a stretch to see most of us raising our own Thanksgiving Turkey but there are plenty of small farmers that are capable and with our demand will take this on. Without getting longwinded this is good in numerous ways and something we all need to support.
To tie it back to your mission it helps make small farms work, saving agriculture land for the crazy pursuit of agriculture. George Bush says we are addicted to oil. The average carrot travels 1500 miles, not sure how far the average Turkey travels but one fifth of our country’s fossil fuel use is to transport food. Another fifth is feeding that food with fossil fuel (farmers raising chickens don’t need fossil fuel nitrogen).
Thanks for the forum!!!
Visit Janie at her booth at Capital City Farmers Market “Medowlark Farms” and check out their website http://www.homegrownpoultry.net. For now I will see if we can help get some Turkeys from the evil system for your request.
Dave Krick
downtown restaurant guy
Dec 17, 2006, 10:32 am
Every time I buy a turkey at a good price I buy another one for the food bank or mission or whoever needs one at the time.
One turkey will last me a month. After I bake, slice and pick, I boil the carcass to get the rest of the meat in a water based broth. I freeze the sliced meat and pickings/broth in one person units so I can use the sliced meat for sandwiches during the month and use pasta and/or vegetables with the pickings/broth at night or on the weekends.
I hope all of these donated turkeys are completely used like I use mine.
Dec 17, 2006, 5:56 pm
Jack, I had to chuckle some in reading your chronology of the bird. Mine is the same, although I vacuum seal the meat with a single portion of dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and an individual package of homemade cranberry sauce for lunches on those days when other leftovers are non existent (or looked upon with less favor). I almost think the gumption to use every usable part of the Turkey has gone the way of darning socks and saving waxed paper off cracker boxes (or even using waxed paper). I have donated 6 turkeys and 3 hams this season, and not those paper thin funeral hams, but nice bone in hams….another chronology can be given for them, concluding with beans and cornbread, but I’ll spare you all.
I also hope those who received the charity will get every ounce of use that can be extracted. I didn’t give it much thought until you articulated it. Maybe we should teach classes on frugal homemaking or turkey cookin’ 101.