What is Gentle Thanksgiving?

View the Gentle Thanksgiving 2009 Report!

Gentle Thanksgiving is an opportunity to encourage friends, family and neighbors to adopt compassionate alternatives to unnecessarily cruel turkey dinners. We accomplish this by demonstrating the great taste and superior nutritional value of gourmet vegan recipes and a variety of festive plant-based foods.

Millions of caring folks across the U.S. are celebrating this Thanksgiving with a rich selection of delicious vegetables, fruits, baked goods, and mock meats replacing the carcass on their dinner table. The vegan bill of fare may include a 'tofurky,' lentil or nut roast, stuffed squash, corn chowder or chestnut soup, candied yams, cranberry sauce, pumpkin or pecan pie, and carrot cake. Sound good? Need some recipes? Click here.

Find out more by requesting a FREE Veg Starter Kit and weekly e-mail recipes.

Planning on being the lone vegetarian at a traditional Thanksgiving? Or is it your first time preparing food for the new vegan at your table? FARM can help with our guide to dealing with mixed diets at the holiday dinner table!

Check out the Gentle Thanksgiving Video Page where you can see PETA's new banned thanksgiving ad and go inside the facilities to learn the truth!

No Turkey?! Why Not?

For the Animals

Abusing and killing an innocent bird betrays the life-affirming spirit of giving thanks for our life, health, and happiness. The nearly 300 million turkeys killed each year in the U.S. spend their entire lives crammed in large sheds with little room to move. Artificially inseminated and selectively bred to gain enormous amounts of weight, they suffer heart attacks, broken limbs, lameness, and death from their genetically-induced accelerated growth rate. Most of these same conditions apply to "free range" turkeys.

Click here to continue reading and learn more about atrocious animal farm practices or watch undercover investigations of turkey facilities.

For Your Health

Turkey flesh is loaded with cholesterol and saturated fats, which have been linked conclusively with an elevated risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases that kill 1.3 million Americans annually. Turkey flesh is also contaminated with deadly pathogens and antibiotics.

Click here to continue reading about the negative effects of turkey on our health.

For the Globe

In addition to threatening personal health, factory farming is a global problem. Much of the 10 billion pounds of manure generated by 7,300 turkey farms in 33 states ends up in our drinking water. Grain fed to turkeys is denied to millions of starving people in the world's most impoverished nations.

Click here to continue reading about how animal farming ruins the earth.

Want More?

Find out the Top Ten Reasons to drop turkey from your holiday menu!

For help in transitioning to a compassionate plant-based diet, sign up for a Free Veg Starter Kit and Meatout Mondays weekly e-mail recipes, product suggestions, and inspiration.