Vegetarian Thanksgiving - No Turkeys
May 3rd 2008
What comes to your mind when you first think of Thanksgiving? The big fat golden-brown turkey? To millions, a Vegetarian Thanksgiving would mean no heaps of turkey meat at their dining table to feast on, but to the turkeys it would mean freedom to LIVE.
Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks to God for blessings received during the year. It is usually a family day, celebrated with joyous reunions, feastings and prayers. Families and friends come together to enjoy the Macey’s Thanksgiving Parade and Football. Although it is a major celebration in the United States and Canada, other countries like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Laos, Liberia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, etc also celebrate this joyous holiday.
Vegetarian Thanksgiving is a term which has slowly become popular all over, not only with the vegetarians but also among the non vegetarians. Being veg. is a journey, not a destination - even with its back roads, detours and speed bumps. Thanksgiving used to be a vegetarian’s worst nightmare, but no longer. More and more vegetarian groups are holding dinners and celebrations, and there are even caterers and food companies specializing in a wide selection of meatless alternatives.
The living and the dead! If turkeys were our companions, we would be terribly upset with the death of any one of them; but because they are “food”, we are indifferent to their death. Thousands of free-range turkeys are raised in a single warehouse-like structure forced to stand on accumulated fecal waste and breathe in ammonia fumes. These turkeys are then taken to the slaughterhouse through transport containers where they are hung upside down in shackles. There they cry out in fear and pain as they await their own slaughter. Think of how much it hurts when we get a little speck in our eye, and we might understand the degree of suffering that the turkeys are been forced to endure day after day. When left the way God intended turkeys to be, they have a wonderful and close family life. It is not human to deprive them of this gift from God.
There is a lot more to explore at a thanksgiving dinner table than just turkeys. Some food items that I can suggest, which I found from some great recipe sites, would be:
APPETIZERS/STARTERS
Guacamole, a Relish plate of sliced vegetables (Crudit
Tags: bread, feast, food, pan, roast, thanksgiving, turkey, Veg, vegan, vegetarian, wishes