We’ve gotten our Thanksgiving Turkey from these folks for the last 4 or 5 years. There is no going back once you’ve had a real, heritage breed Turkey. It’s expensive, but it’s only once a year. And we look forward to it all year long. It is a truly amazing difference in how much better these taste. I’ll never be able to eat a Butterball again…
Patrick Martins, Co-founder, Heritage Foods USA, Brooklyn; 718-389-0985; heritagefoodsusa.com
Patrick Martins likes happy animals–particularly endangered, humanely raised pigs, cows, and turkeys–and not just because they taste better. He believes their happiness is a moral imperative. As co-founder of Heritage Foods USA, his mission to save heritage breeds of livestock and the family farms that raise them began nine years ago, when a few hundred of his heirloom turkeys fanned out across the country. Today, that number is closer to 7,500, and every last one is raised by a farmer who shares Martins’s passion.
Why did you start with turkeys?
It seemed like a single item that everyone in the country could get behind to support the small farmer. And it was a project that revolved around a single day, so it made it easier to find a sustainable source–to say, “We have to get 800 of these things raised for a single day in November.”
What’s the argument for a $140 turkey?
It ends up coming out to $8 a pound, or $8 per person. That’s cheaper than Applebee’s and almost as cheap as a McDonald’s value meal.
Read the rest of our Q&A with Patrick Martins after the jump.
What makes a happy turkey?
It has room. That’s the biggest thing. It can walk around. No living creature should be forced to spend its entire life in a box. That should shoot through to the heart of every American. We live in a country that is wealthy, that is trying to improve itself, that is like a moral beacon to the rest of the world. We cannot keep animals in boxes. Period. With turkeys, if their instinct is to roost–to wrap their talons around something and fall asleep–they should be allowed to roost. A happy animal is one that is allowed to fulfill its God-given instincts. And walking is a natural instinct.
More: Making the Case for a $140 Turkey: BA Daily: Blogs : bonappetit.com.
Lost in the 21st Century 
We’re buying a heritage turkey too. This year we’re buying a turkey from a farmer at the farmers market. The rest of the year we buy eggs from free range chickens from this farmer. I like doing business with a farmer I trust to treat his animals humanely. And yes, the meat tastes better with a heritage turkey. Happy Turkey Day!
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