Who can afford $7.50 a pound for turkey?
Food for thought: I got a call on Friday from Arnie Riebli, a fourth-generation Sonoma County farmer and co-owner of Petaluma-based Sunrise Farms, one of the top egg producers in the state. We talked about the front-page story about the Thode family raising heritage turkeys on their Sebastopol ranch.
“I know I’m not objective about the whole thing,” he said. “But I read the news media every day. Animal agriculture is under attack. And then I read about . . . 70 turkeys selling for $7.50 a pound and in other parts of the country people are going hungry.”
Arnie Riebli of Sunrise Farms in Petaluma
His question: Are we being realistic about our expectations of food production and what people can afford?
It’s a fair concern. At $7.50 a pound, a 15-pound turkey is going to cost $112.50. Who has that kind of money? A Safeway ad this week was offering turkeys for 88 cents a pound.
Riebli doesn’t raise turkeys, and he said he has nothing against a family that wants to raise heritage turkeys as a hobby. He just gets concerned when people see stories like this as a solution to society’s food needs.
“As a farmer, I have a moral and ethical responsibility to supply food at a reasonable cost to the average consumer. But that’s not the average consumer,” he said. “I think we are starting to have delusions of grandeur of that things really are.”
Arnie told me that Sunrise Farms, which produces a million eggs a day, seven days a week, is working with David Goodman of the Redwood Empire Food Bank to provide food banks all over the state with low-cost eggs.
“We truly understand the need that his out there,” said Riebli. “But then I get beat over the head because there is a vocal minority out that believes that I’m just Simon Legree who doesn’t care about the welfare of his animals.” That’s just not true, he said.
“I’m having a hard time trying to understand what society really wants.”
I don’t blame him.
I can appreciate someone who raises heritage turkeys. But I’m more thankful for those who produce the food I can afford each day – especially those here in Sonoma County - and are willing to put up with verbal abuse and occasional attacks by vandals to do it.
- Paul Gullixson
“I feel good about knowing these birds ate right and weren’t mistreated,” said Catherine Throd, axe in hand, before she chopped a turkey’s head off and sold it to elitist foodies whose heads are essentially devoid of everything save arrogance.
by michael koepf
For special occasions, there are people who will pay 19.99/lb for filet mignon or 8.99/lb for crab (or they will pay $50/per person for Thanksgiving out). It is often a matter of expectation and marketing. Small scale farming is expensive and and not a solution to global food distribution problems. But if people want to spend some of their money supporting their neighbors’ healthy & humane agricultural endeavors, that sounds worthwhile to me. It’s a minute part of the overall turkey market.
No need for the name-calling.
By the way, I’m grateful to all the people who grow & harvest my food so I don’t have to do all that myself.
by LFH
Mr Reibli is a specialist in cheap food with a big mouth. I remember that he had a lot to say against laws that mandate humane treatment of farm animals. What does he care how much people pay for their turkeys? He can just sit up on his hillside, counting his money, while he crowds his chickens together in cages and feeds them antibiotics. Why do you keep showcasing him in the paper?
by gerry2280
Look at it another way:
You’re receiving a free-range organic heritage turkey that was raised by 4H kids. So not only are you receiving a top-of-the-line bird, but supporting 4H at the same time.
As a society, we should be eating less meat, but better meat. This is a step in that direction.
by Noah
As a result of this article and added postings, I have decided to shoot a wild turkey this year. What the heck, my turkey will have had (post mortem) one of the most wonderful “free range” lives imaginable, including never to having to listen to any turkey saying that his dead turkey was more noble than the other guy’s dead turkey. One quick shot to the head, and I can already smell it roasting.
by michael koepf
Take a look at what Gerry2280 wrote on this thread. Note the tone and the lack of facts in his/her post. Thats representative of the folks who are attempting to raise the cost of your meat and eggs and cause a shortage.
To meet the current requirements of food supply, the farmer would need 400 percent more land to in the egg industry alone. Of course, this not practical, nor could they afford it. The end result we will be importing more eggs from other countries. Once again we will pass our jobs and profits to another country much like oil. Why? because of a group of overly zealous folks? No not really, its all about profit for groups like the humane society. It is profitable for the humane society to assault farmers.
by Macksfield
[...] follow-up editorial blog post two days later shines a little common sense on the issue – and for that we will give [...]
by $112.50 for Thanksgiving turkey? No thanks! | Cluck Nation
I bought one of the Thode turkeys and I am not wealthy by any means. I also don’t eat any meat, except for Thanksgiving. And I rarely eat dairy products. If Mr. Riebli was really concerned about feeding hungry people, he would focus his energies on producing vegetables and grains. A vegetarian diet is the most healthy for people and the planet, consuming far less energy per calorie produced. The least expensive way to feed the planet is with a vegetarian diet. I truly appreciated my Thanksgiving turkey, but will continue to eat a largely vegan diet that is less expensive and far healthier. Think of the reduced health care costs we would have if people moved in a vegetarian direction.
by Kim
Response to Kim:
Vegan diets are NOT healthier diets. There are plenty of studies that show both men and women are less fertile and have a much harder time getting pregnant when on a vegan diet. That doesn’t sound healthy to me at all. There is nothing wrong with a vegan diet if you have been eating it since you were a small child, but if you grew up eating meat and then try to switch to a vegan diet later in life then you will have major health issues. It depends on what nutrients were available when your body was developing and growing into full maturity. If you grew up eating meat then don’t switch later in life. Protein is very important to your body.
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