Polyface Pastured Poultry: Turkeys

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September 10, 2024

Fall has hit the valley. Mornings are crisp and cool. Many of us have dug out our cozy house shoes and sweaters to be freshened and warmed by the sun. Cozy warm drinks are being prepared. All the warm rich tones of Autumn are dancing in our heads and before our eyes.

Thanksgiving is approaching. It's not too early to get in a holiday mood and get your Polyface turkey!

Here at Polyface, we grow grass-fed turkeys seasonally to provide a healthy choice for many thankful American homes during this season.

While the American Thanksgiving holiday is about so much more than food (with turkey the star in most homes), good food is a huge part of our history, childhood memories, and even a mental state of gratitude and abundance.

Here's my question: Have you thought about the turkey you're eating this year?

Our forefathers did not eat commercially grown turkey found in modern American grocery stores for their Thanksgiving feast. Why should we?

We have the solution - an alternative to the turkeys found in factory farming systems which face several significant issues that can affect both the quality of the meat and animal welfare.

This holiday season, you don't have to choose a turkey confined to overcrowded environments with limited access to natural light and outdoor space. This lack of mobility and fresh air contributes to stress, poor health, and an increased risk of disease, often leading to the use of antibiotics to keep the birds healthy.

One of our beliefs here at Polyface is that we're as healthy as our food.

Did you know that, if given the chance, turkeys will eat about 40 percent of their diet in grass? Grass, one of God's most cleansing and amazing creations, is critical for animal health.

Here's what we do to ensure healthy happy turkeys with a difference you can see, taste, and feel.

We buy our unmedicated poults (baby turkeys) from hatcheries and start them in a brooder for warmth and protection from the elements. After 3 weeks they go outside on pasture in order to encourage foraging

Using electrified poultry netting, we move them to new paddocks every couple of days to keep them on a fresh pasture salad bar. Because they have heavy, meaty genetics, they can’t fly and therefore we can protect them from predators and soiling their own area with the portable electric netting and portable shelter we call a "Gobbledy-go".

Birds don’t have stomachs; they have a crop, gizzard, and intestines. The crop is a holding sac where everything ferments before going into the gizzard, which is a grinding organ. With a thick protective lining, the gizzard contains rocks the turkey eats. As the gizzard massages its contents, the rocks literally grind everything into liquid that then goes into the intestines. Because grass is harder to ferment than grains, we offer our turkeys tons of rocks so they can efficiently metabolize the non-grain components they find in the field.

We also offer a non-GMO locally-sourced ration similar to our Chicken-feed Ration.

At about 16 weeks they are ready to harvest. We do not offer fresh turkeys at Thanksgiving because it is often too cold to have the turkeys on pasture in late November in our part of the country. The commercial turkey industry "soft freezes" birds (29 degrees) for months and calls them fresh. We hard freeze them immediately and keep them for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. This way we raise the turkeys when they are the most comfortable, in the summertime, and they can enjoy the greatest quantity of worms, insects, and lush grass. The freezer lets us accommodate our holidays.

This year, I hope you decide to join each of us here at Polyface and enjoy a Polyface Pastured Turkey for your holidays.

Not sure how to cook a Polyface turkey? Here's my favorite way: Holiday Dry Brine Turkey

Hannah

turkey

Why Choose Fermented Foods?

My grandparents on my father’s side used to make sauerkraut in wooden barrels in the basement. My mother’s side made cheese and salami. I could smell these concoctions throughout the entire house. Fermenting is part of your national heritage, no matter your family’s country of origin. Alongside nourishing grass-fed/grass-finished pastured meats like Polyface raises, every person should include real fermented foods into their diet. This method of food preservation goes back farther than most realize, reconnecting us with ancient traditions, long before the refrigerator-freezer was invented. Every culture consumed something fermented every day. Here are the reasons why I like fermented foods. Fermentation preserves food without using high pressure, high heat, or chemicals, so it both conserves and increases them. The nutritional value of fermented foods lies mostly in the pro-biotic bacteria that are present, and byproducts of their digestion. The bacteria’s digestive “waste” is a collection of vitamins, enzymes, and co-factors needed for every system of the body. These include: Vitamins B1, B6, B12, C, and K2 Superoxide dismutase (SOD, an antioxidant) GTF chromium (assists sugar metabolism) Glutathione (a potent detoxifier) Phospholipids (cell membrane building blocks) Digestive enzymes Beta 1,2 glucans (present in shiitake mushrooms; modulates immune system) Fermentation neutralizes or eliminates these: Phytic acid (present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Enzyme inhibitors (also present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Nitrites Prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) Oxalic acid (binds minerals) Nitrosamines (known carcinogen) Glucosides Probiotics and enzymes in whey neutralize phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, allowing your digestion to access the nutrients in the food. Enzymes are proteins. Proteins are delicate molecules with very complex structure and shape. The structure of the enzyme gives it its function. Without structure and form, the enzyme will not do its job of catalyzing biochemical reactions. Without enzymes, biochemical reactions would cease. Enzymes are denatured (unraveled or broken down) by high pressure, high heat, acidic conditions, toxic chemicals, and electrical disturbances. Once denatured, they lose their form and shape, therefore they lose their function. Unlike canning and commercial processing, fermenting occurs at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, encouraging beneficial bacteria to thrive. Temperatures above 117 degrees Fahrenheit denature enzymes and kill probiotic bacteria. If you wonder what 117 degrees feels like, it’s the temperature at which you cannot touch an object with your bare hands and hold it for a few seconds. If it’s hot, but you can still touch and hold it in your hand and not pull away, it’s under 117 degrees. This innate protection mechanism (i.e., reflex) prevents your own protein (i.e., skin on your finger) from being denatured. It’s also a good indicator of when your food is hot enough to kill probiotics and denature enzymes. For best results, fermented foods must be eaten raw, never hot or cooked. Fermented foods are safe and protective against pathogens. USDA scientist Roger McFeeters, who oversees a fermentation laboratory, says, “The lactobacilli can number a billion per gram of tissue at the height of fermentation. The bad bacteria can't compete." According to McFeeters, lacto-fermentation has caused no known food-borne illness. "As far as we know, it's been going on for thousands of years. It's perfectly safe.” The sauerkraut that my grandparents made had a layer of raw pork chops embedded in the salted cabbage. When the sauerkraut was done, you could safely eat the pork chops raw! They were pre-digested by the bacteria, and “cooked" by the organic acids in the kraut. Probiotics prevented pathogens from establishing. None of us ever got food poisoning. My grandmother lived to be 100. Fermented foods have anti-carcinogenic properties. They normalize blood pressure and heart rate, help to break down fat in the liver, and maintain healthy systemic pH. And they are quite tasty. In the supermarket, look for fermented foods in the refrigerated section, not on the shelf with canned foods. Shelf-stable canned foods were subjected to high temperatures. The probiotics and enzymes have been denatured. Look for “live cultures” or “live probiotics” on the label. Eat something lacto-fermented every day, like your ancestors did. Just a tablespoon or two of sauerkraut or an ounce or two of cheese is enough to have the desired effect. Choose a salad dressing made with raw apple cider vinegar, or a tablespoon of a fermented condiment such as ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. Try a fermented beverage, like kombucha, beet kvass, or ginger ale. (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon has some great recipes for all of these.) The original condiments were digestive aids. They’re easy to make. Try it. May you be deeply nourished! Susan

Polyface Pastured Poultry: Turkeys

Not sure how to cook a Polyface turkey? Here's my favorite way: Holiday Dry Brine Turkey

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