The festive season is filled with age-old traditions like eating turkey on Christmas Day. But how did this come about and why should we continue this tradition? It wasn’t always traditional to eat turkey on Christmas Day. Before turkey was introduced to Britain, geese, peacocks and even boar’s heads were eaten as treats on Christmas Day. In 1526 William Strickland imported six turkeys from America and sold them for tuppence each.
The birds were considered extremely tasty and a more practical alternative to other farm animals such as cows (which were more useful alive to produce milk) or chickens (which were more expensive than they are today). The popularity of turkeys has steadily increased and today in the UK we eat around 10 million turkeys every year.
Henry VIII was said to be the first to eat turkey on Christmas Day, but it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that turkey overtook goose as the favorite Christmas food. Today 87% of Britons believe that Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a traditional roast turkey. Turkeys have the advantages of being affordable, big enough to feed the entire extended family (with guaranteed leftovers!), and fresh – if you know where to buy them! Of course, they are born in the spring and typically take around seven months to mature into a healthy, full-size turkey.
Being raised free range allows them to roam freely and ensure their muscles and tissues are fully developed. If you want to make sure you have the juiciest, tastiest bird for your Christmas party, buy yours Free range turkeys directly from the farm.
Thanks to Simon Lindsell
