So regardless of whether youre on Team White Meat or Team Dark Meat now you know that turkey was indeed a part of the very first Thanksgiving dinner.

Why is turkey associated with thanksgiving. Throughout the 19th century turkey began to be associated with feasting and holidays so it was only natural that it would become a go-to addition to Thanksgiving celebrations too. The turkey at Thanksgiving idea is that the turkey is the de facto symbol of Americas prowess of its national origin myth Davis told The Dodo. The Classic Thanksgiving Meal.

It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. According to most American households Thanksgiving without turkey is not Thanksgiving. Turkeys the bird closely associated with Thanksgiving were first encountered by the Spanish in Mexico.

The turkey came to be known as a symbol of affluence even in Victorian times only the very richest Europeans could afford to eat turkey at Christmas. Some give credit for the turkeys preeminence to Sarah Joseph Hale the Godmother of Thanksgiving whose accounts of early New England celebrations emphasized a roast. Turkey has been the meal for Thanksgiving for a very long time.

Its also a large widely available bird and one turkey can easily feed a large group of people. The turkeys popularity spread for practical reasons such as its size and the convenience of being on peoples properties. For over 30 years Farm Sanctuarys Adopt a Turkey Project has given people the opportunity to forego eating a turkey in favor of sponsoring one for Thanksgiving.

For a one-time donation you can help us to highlight the unique personalities of turkeys and showcase the cruelties from which were helping them to escape. That makes it a smart choice for big gatherings such as Thanksgiving. However given the prominence of the Ottoman empire the English at the time habitually renamed exotic exports with Turkish titles so maize was known as Turkish wheat and turkeys were known as Turkish-cocks which was later shortened.

Since Bradford wrote of how the colonists had hunted wild turkeys during the autumn of 1621 and since turkey is a uniquely North American and scrumptious bird it gained traction as the Thanksgiving meal of choice for Americans after Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863. So was the turkey always on the menu for Thanksgiving. The tradition has been passed on from one generation to another.