While President Obama is pardoning two turkeys for Thanksgiving, every one of us can exercise that same presidential power by choosing a nonviolent Thanksgiving observance that spares a turkey’s life.
And here are some good reasons:
• You can brag about pardoning a turkey – like Obama.
• You truly are what you eat. Who wants to be a “butterball”?
• Fruits and vegetables don’t have to carry government warning
labels.
• You won’t sweat the environment and food resources devastation
guilt trip.
• You won’t spend a sleepless night wondering how the turkey lived and died.
• Your body will appreciate a holiday from saturated fat,
cholesterol, and hormones.
• You won’t have to call Poultry Hotline to keep your family out of the emergency room.
Seriously, this Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks for our good fortune, health, and happiness with a life-affirming, cruelty-free feast of vegetables, fruits, and grains.
Our own dinner will feature a soy or wheat-based roast, mashed potatoes, stuffed squash, candied yams, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.
An internet search on “vegetarian Thanksgiving” is getting us more recipes and other useful information than we could possibly use.

Payton Ingalls
Picayune