Adopt a Turkey at Farm Sanctuary

If Sarah Palin turkey video was a visual tipping point for you -- and you're wondering about an alternative to turkey this Thanksgiving, Farm Sanctuary offers what I think is one of the best remedies: the Adopt a Turkey program. Your cash gift goes toward the daily care of turkeys living at both the New York and California sanctuaries. The Adopt a Turkey website offers an abundance of information for those who'd like to be more informed about turkeys and about the welfare of farm animals in general.

If you don't know about or haven't visited Farm Sanctuary, the west coast facility is about 100 miles north of Sacramento. Farm Sanctuary houses rescued farm animals as one facet of its organization. But it also has investigative and advocacy branches, uncovering abuses and helping abused animals to safety. You can visit Farm Sanctuary from May to October for a regular tour. Group tours can be arranged for 10 or more people.

If you're new to San Francisco's vegetarian restaurant scene, three of my personal favorites are Millennium (near Union Square), Cafe Gratitude (several Bay Area locations), and Greens at Fort Mason.

And finally, if you spend any time in the open spaces (or some suburbs) around the Bay Area, you undoubtedly know that flocks of wild turkeys will sometimes appear traipsing through the scrub, foraging for greens, roots, seeds. I realize there are people who salivate at the prospect of open season on wild turkeys. I'm not one of those. I genuinely enjoy coming upon a flock and observing the interaction they have with each other, and with those of us who have the the good fortune to be accepted into their space. They are intelligent and interesting animals and, as we all know, Benjamin Franklin's choice for national bird -- over that no good "lazy" Bald Eagle.

^{Image Courtesy of Farm Sanctuary}