Choosing a Turkey

When you buy a turkey for your Thanksgiving table, there are options. Sure, you can run to the local grocery store or warehouse club and even clip coupons for a discount. But there are ways to ensure you are getting the healthiest birds as the centerpiece to your meal. 

• A free-range turkey is one that had access to the outdoors during its life. 

• A heritage turkey is one of a few varieties of domestic turkeys which retain historic characteristics no longer present in the majority of turkeys raised for consumption. 

• An organic turkey is free range and also was fed a diet free of pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones. 
  

According to Mindy Athas, RDN, CSO, LDN, registered dietitian and nutritionist with LifeBridge Health and an outpatient dietitian at Carroll Hospital, the healthiest turkeys are the ones that lived a good life, walking around freely, eating bugs and worms and hanging out with other turkeys on a farm. They may not grow as large as those that are fed with antibiotics and other additives in their food, but they are healthier for human consumption. 

"When the turkey runs around and eats insects like crickets and grasshoppers as well as worms, it actually improves the quality of the meat because it increases their levels of omega 3 fatty acids which aid the body in a variety of ways," Athas explains. "And when you get a turkey that was grown in a feedlot and fed corn and soybean, then you're eating corn and soybean." Although the free-range turkeys may be smaller, they are also tastier, according to Athas.  

A consortium of farmers has come together providing an opportunity for consumers to order free-range turkeys in advance. The website marylandsbest.net connects you to area farms and you can order your turkey for the holiday.