Livin’ Veg

An Open Letter to President Obama November 30, 2009

An Open Letter to President Obama:

Dear Mr. President,

Last Wednesday, in keeping with the annual Thanksgiving presidential tradition, you performed an act of compassion by pardoning a turkey the day before Thanksgiving. Sure, it’s just symbolic, but for one shining moment, it gives a face to all of the birds who are slaughtered for food, especially for this particular holiday. It forces people to see these birds as thinking feeling beings, instead of what they will see the following day on their plates - food.

However, I was thoroughly disappointed by the speech you gave that made light of the consumption of turkeys.

You said:

Today, I am pleased to announce that thanks to the interventions of Malia and Sasha — because I was planning to eat this sucker — “Courage” will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate. Later today, he’ll head to Disneyland, where he’ll be grand marshal of tomorrow’s parade.

Putting aside the fact that you continued your predecessor’s inhumane decision to send the birds to Disney instead of to a facility like Farm Sanctuary that can actually care for the bird’s needs, your jokes about the fate of so many turkeys who are tortured and killed on factory farms was in poor taste. When performing an act of compassion, is it necessary to make fun of the recipient?

So let me for a moment deconstruct why you might have chosen comedy as opposed to heartfelt gratitude when speaking about the animals you eat as food. After all, you aren’t alone in making jokes about the deaths of farm animals in reference to them being a tasty meal. We’ve all heard them before. But why all the joking? I believe that people use jokes to separate themselves from the act of eating an animal that if they saw in person, they would probably want to pet rather than kill. You have an even tougher job for all the omnivores out there. You are pardoning a turkey and giving a face and name to a creature that the citizens of the USA have to feel good about eating the next day. What better way to shrug off a life than by dismissing it with laughter? What could be a real moment of connection with a farm animal is turned into an absurd PR stunt, all for a few chuckles and to dismiss the responsibility we have towards the animals raised for food.

I’m hoping I’ll be seeing seven more turkey pardons from you. So you’ve got time to get it right. (I’m crossing my fingers next year you’ll both nix the jokes as well as the Disney adventure.) I also beg you to look into the turkey farms in this country and reflect on how we as Americans treat the animals so many people eat. You can start here by reading up on the treatment of birds specifically.

Thank you so much for your time.

Happy Holidays.

Ali Berman