It's almost turkey time. Do you have your turkey yet? Maybe you want to get out on the farm and see where the turkeys live; maybe you're having a turkey-free holiday and need to get to the farmers market or food market for your supplies; maybe you head to a restaurant to have your holiday meal. Whatever Thanksgiving looks like for you, Vermont is full of local foods to guarantee a delicious holiday!
Healthy Living Market and Café in South Burlington kicked off their annual Thanksgiving turkey pre-order program on October 14th. Customers will be able to order local, free-range and antibiotic/hormone-free turkeys over the phone, in-store or online. As in past years, they offer fresh and fair priced turkeys from a handful of local farms around Vermont as part of their “A Local Turkey for Every Table” campaign. Healthy Living has been a driving force behind the “Buy Local, Eat Local” revolution in Vermont and has made it a priority to support local growers by selling turkeys at fair market price to customers in Chittenden County for over twenty five years.
To get things started, Healthy Living’s Co-founder Katy Lesser and team headed out to Adam's Turkey Farm for their annual visit. Adam’s Turkey Farm has been a local Vermont poultry grower for over 30 years and is one of the three local farms that include Misty Knoll Farm and Stonewood Farm providing turkeys to Healthy Living for the pre-order season. Lesser has known Dave and Judy Adams since the late 80’s when she first started offering turkeys in her store during the holidays.
“I started thinking about Thanksgiving at the store and wondered if customers might like local turkeys. During my research, I came across Adams Turkey Farm and went to visit Dave and Judy Adams at their farm in Westford. That’s where I actually got my first lesson in local agriculture and met dedicated farmers who raise poultry of astounding quality,” said Lesser. “The rest is happy history; we worked together to make a plan. I learned about turkeys and the Adams learned about wholesale. That first year I sold about 25 turkeys....since then we’ve sold more every year!”
This year’s farm visit marked the 25th anniversary of the grocer and vendor working together to provide the highest quality turkeys during Thanksgiving. Knowing who grows the food they sell is a high priority for Healthy Living. Seasonal staff visits to the farms have become part of their mission. For this trip, new members of the Healthy Living staff were able to see the farm while learning more about raising local turkeys.
For more information and to pre-order your turkey today, go to the Healthy Living site.
