With its lean and flavorful meat and versatility, turkey should be considered for much more than just holiday meals. Eaten by the indigenous people of Central America, Mexico, and the southern United states for centuries, the turkey was brought back to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 15th century. The English, known for naming things from where they thought it came from, gave this large and rotund bird the name Turkey by mistakenly thinking it came from the Turkish and Northern African region.
Environmental Impact:
Compared to beef, turkey is a much more sustainable product. The numbers speak for themself :
- 14.8x less land use than beef
- 1.4x less water usage than beef
- 4.8x lower greenhouse gasses than beef
Nutrition:
Not only is Turkey a great lean and protein-packed meat, it is also an amazing source of many different vitamins and minerals such B3 and B6. With most of the fat found in the skin, simply removing it makes this already lean meat almost fat free.
Much like its environmental impact, when compared to beef, the numbers don’t lie.
Fun Facts:
- Ben Franklin wanted the Turkey to be the national bird of the United States.
- The amount of tryptophan in turkey is not enough to make you sleepy, but it is enough to positively affect serotonin levels.
- Wild turkeys can actually fly and are surprisingly fast. They can run up to 20MPH and fly an astonishing 60MPH for short distances.