Valley Bounty, November 9, 2013: Turkey

Fresh local turkeys are a Thanksgiving treat worth seeking out. Buying a local turkey is an opportunity to support humane animal production and, in many cases, a rare chance to eat meat that has never been frozen.Thanks to consumer demand, there are several more farms growing turkeys than there were even two years ago—but many are small farms and they do sell out!

See our list of farmers and retailers selling local turkeys here.

Visit Thanksgiving Central for recipes, stories, and sourcing information for more Thanksgiving ingredients.

Recipes: 

People seem to love to trade tips on how to make a moist and flavorful turkey. Starting with a well-raised bird helps, as does remembering that the people who make recommendations about how long to cook meat have reduced the length of time for turkey in recent years. Meggin Thwing Eastman has good instructions for roasting a heritage turkey and for turkey leftovers on her blog Happy Valley Locavore.