Enduring brutal training and selection, being pampered with luxury, and being named a national ambassador for your services… is exactly what Minnesota turkeys Peach and Blossom just completed last Monday at their Presidential Pardon.
Despite the trend of the past two years, it is not our great state of Minnesota that gives turkeys for presidential pardon every year. Each year the president of the National Turkey Federation, the biggest international nonprofit for turkey producers, selects a farm from their home state. This year, Northfield’s John Zimmerman took up the once-in-a-lifetime role. Since each president can only serve once, the utmost care is put into turkey selection. This year’s winners were selected through many rounds of tough trials. The turkeys had to play with Zimmerman’s children and listen to loud music from every possible genre, especially metal. Their journey to D.C. was exquisite, however. 9-time veteran, and presidential pardon turkey driver, Peter Gruhl, privately chauffeured the entire 2-day drive. They even got their own room at a historic D.C. hotel!
Minnesota has deep roots in the turkey business; it is the largest turkey-producing state in the US, raising 40 million birds annually. But how did we claim this top title? It’s all thanks to the timely medical advice of University of Minnesota alum William “Doc” Billings. His novel ideas kept turkeys safe from disease, and their new growth spread contagiously across the state. He even later reinvented stuffing to the delicious form it takes today, propelling the national market for turkeys.
Peach and Blossom will now spend the rest of their time as education ambassadors at Farmamerica back home in Waseca. Not every presidential turkey, however, is lucky enough to live a peaceful life post-pardon. The earliest tradition of gifting presidents these birds was for the exact opposite reason: to eat. Sporadic ceremonies and pardons over the years solidified into the tradition we know today in 1989 when President George H.W. Bush formalized the event against a backdrop of animal rights protestors.
Even today, controversy continues to surround the spectacle. Many animal rights advocacy groups label the ceremony as a publicity stunt that covers the truth; millions of turkeys are grown and killed inhumanely each year. They also point to how many turkeys are mistreated or neglected after their time in fame, subject to research and petting zoos. Nonetheless, it’s undeniable that the Presidential Pardon of Turkeys has become a national tradition. For both turkey farmers and animal rights groups, this publicity all leads to one big query. Will you personally pardon a turkey for Thanksgiving next year?
