Why Do We Eat Turkey For Thanksgiving

Have you ever wondered why we eat turkey on Thanksgiving? Most people would say it's because it's tradition. Some would say because that's what the pilgrims did. Others might say because it's just what you are supposed to do and don't have a reason at all. In my family we have turkey and ham because my Grandma won't eat kind of yard bird, no turkey or chicken.

Here is how turkey came about being a traditional Thanksgiving food. We know through documentation that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 in Plymouth. We also know thanks to the writings of Edward Winslow that they ate "wildfowl

." Turkeys specifically were never mentioned, so they could have been eating duck or geese for all we know. However another colonist and pilgrim William Bradford's journals were published documenting the life and times during the 1600s and in his writings, he talks about hunting turkeys during the autumn of 1621, the year of the first reported Thanksgiving. Bradford's journals were published in 1856, seven years later President Lincoln would declare Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.

Another reason as to why turkey was chosen to be the featured meat of Thanksgiving is because turkey is much larger than chicken and could feed more people. Unlike beef or pork, turkey was not eaten as commonly and was considered more for a special occasion.

Another interesting reason that might have led to turkey becoming the official meat of Thanksgiving was in "A Christmas Carol" Scrooge sends the Crachit family a turkey.

It really doesn't matter to me which one is served because I don't really eat either one, I'm just really there for the sides. As long as I have my green bean casserole and deviled eggs, I"m good.

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