More Than A Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality, by Karen Davis, PhD
Karen Davis’ More Than A Meal is an in-depth study on the life of a turkey, native to America, and the unjust abuse the turkey has been a victim of over the years. Davis takes us back to European folklore about turkeys, the myths, fairy tales, and downright lies told about turkeys and their habits and habitats. She shows how turkeys in the wild have complex lives and family units, and how they were an integral part of Native American and continental cultures and landscape before the Europeans arrived. In the book, Davis examines the cultural and literal history, as well as the natural history and biological needs and concerns of turkeys. She explores how turkeys came to be seen as the suitable centerpiece of the celebration of freedom in America itself—Thanksgiving. She examines the many varieties of turkeys and uncovers the methods by which millions of turkeys are raised, fattened, and slaughtered on farms around America today, and how we have bred the domestic turkey today into a deformed, enormous bird that must be artificially inseminated to reproduce.
Finally, Davis draws conclusions about our paradoxical, complex, and “bestial” relationship not just with turkeys, but with all birds, and thus with all other animals. She examines how our treatment of animals shapes our other values about ourselves, our relationship with other human beings, and our attitude toward the land, nation, and the world.
Karen Davis, Ph.D. is the founder and President of United Poultry Concerns (UPC), a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. Founded in 1990, UPC addresses the treatment of domestic fowl in food production, science, education, entertainment, and human companionship situations. She has a PhD in English from the University of Maryland-College Park where she taught for 12 years in the English Department. Since 1999, Karen and UPC have hosted eight annual conferences on farmed animal advocacy issues. Karen has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows including The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, and This American Life on National Public Radio. She is the author of A Home for Henny; Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey: A Poultryless ‘Poultry’ Potpourri; Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry; and More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality (Lantern Books 2001). She is also the author of The Holocaust and the Henmaid’s Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities (Lantern Books 2005). On July 2, 2002, Karen was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame for outstanding contributions to animal liberation.
Available on Amazon, Lantern Books, and United Poultry Concerns.
