Causes.com
| 11.21.22
Biden Pardons Thanksgiving Turkeys ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Chip’
What do you think about the annual presidential turkey pardon?
What’s the story?
- President Joe Biden on Monday participated in the annual White House turkey pardon, granting a reprieve to Chocolate and Chip.
“The votes are in, they’ve been counted and verified, no ballot stuffing, no fowl play. The only red wave this season is going to be if German Shepherd Commander knocks over the cranberry sauce,” Biden told an audience on the White House South Lawn.
Why do presidents pardon turkeys?
- According to the White House Historical Association, Abraham Lincoln was the first president to pardon a turkey, although the tradition didn’t start until much later in U.S. history. Apparently, someone brought a live turkey to the Lincoln White House for Christmas in 1863, but Lincoln’s son Tad was so horrified by the idea of killing and eating the bird that Honest Abe decided to spare the bird’s life.
- Beginning in 1873, "Poultry King" Horace Vose sent turkeys to the White House every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas for the First Family to enjoy until his death in 1913. But the Vose turkeys, which the WHHA notes “never weighed fewer than 30 pounds and sometimes topped the scales at 50 pounds,” were already “slaughtered and dressed.”
- It wasn’t until Harry S. Truman took office that uneaten turkeys became a tradition at the White House. In the wake of World War II, Truman had instituted an unofficial set of food-saving policies to help the U.S. and Europe recover from the war, including "Meatless Tuesdays," “Eggless Mondays” and, yes, “Poultryless Thursdays.” The latter infuriated the poultry lobby in the U.S. and farmers started sending birds to the White House in protest. Many pin the origins of the turkey pardon to a gobbler sent to Truman for Christmas, 1947, just after he ended the policy.
- But the Truman library argues that he never actually pardoned the turkey, he just took a photo with one. Truman apparently even joked at the time that he could send it home to his family in Missouri where it would feed 25 of his relatives.
- From President John F. Kennedy forward, presidents have held similar photo-ops with donated turkeys. But it wasn’t until George H.W. Bush took office in 1989 that the term "pardon" was used and the tradition was truly hatched.
- Now, two turkeys are sent to the White House annually, with one chosen as the official turkey to be pardoned. President Obama was the first president to pardon both turkeys when he took office in 2009, after some pleading by his daughters Sasha and Malia.
What will happen to Chocolate and Chip?
- Chocolate and Chip will retire to North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, after their visit to the White House.
Happy Thanksgiving,
—Josh Herman
(Screenshot from the White House's YouTube channel)
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Whew, I am sure glad that is over. It was touch an go for awhile.
At least they were not already convicted for capitol crimes and our President did not pardon them to keep them from testifying against him.
Pardoning turkeys is a good thing. It continues a touching, humorous, and inoffensive tradition.
Pardoning one's political allies, followers, and friends even though committed crimes is another matter entirely. It is an abuse of power for which the prior administration was very, very guilty.
It's cute and provides a bit of comic relief for the President and the country. As long as he doesn't pardon the orange turkey that pretended to be the president I'll be a happy camper.
Well glad they got a pardon
Lucky turkeys.
They don't have to fear gun violence.
They don't have to worry about their rights being taken away.
They don't have people spouting hate and lies about them.
Let's stop this pointless tradition. We have bigger issues in our country.
I think it's a sweet tradition!
Wondering if the recent FDA approval for lab grown meat is specifically for chicken or all poultry and whether that results in more turkeys escaping the t-day dinner table.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will allow a California company called Upside Foods to take living cells from chickens and then grow them in a controlled laboratory environment to produce a meat product that doesn’t involve the actual slaughter of any animals."
"The FDA said it was ready to approve the sale of other lab-grown meat, stating that it was “engaged in discussions with multiple firms” to do the same, including companies that want to grow seafood from the cells of marine life."
"Singapore is currently the only country in which lab-grown meat products are legally sold to consumers, the US approval could open the floodgates to a new food market that backers say is more efficient and environmentally friendly than traditional livestock farming."
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/nov/18/lab-grown-meat-safe-eat-fda-upside-foods
It adds a bit of much needed levity to our times. Lighten up!
https://azfreenews.com/2022/11/ftx-ceos-27-million-political-influence-pac-based-in-phoenix/