Looking Online for Local Turkey

Heritage Turkeys Vs. Butterball Ever wondered if there was a distinguishable difference in a heritage turkey and the ones you see in the grocery?  Earlier this year, food professionals, chefs, food writers and food connoisseurs gathered to participate in a blind taste test of eight heritage breeds and one commercial brand. Each turkey was cut into bite-sized pieces and placed in covered dishes at numbered stations; scorecards and numbered toothpicks were provided. Taste-testers were then asked to vote for their favorite turkey. To see which turkeys were most popular, check out the report on page 13 in the Nov./Dec. 2008 issue of Hobby Farms. For a list of heritage-turkey producers in the United States, check out the list provided by Ayrshire Farm.

Looking for a few good turkeys …

We wanted to see if a few of the online local food directories could help us locate a farm-raised turkey, preferably heritage turkey, for our holiday meals.

We searched for farms or farmers markets that offered turkeys for sale in the Central Kentucky area. Here’s what we found:

• Using the Farm Locator at the NewFarm website we found two 1) Willow Hills Natural Foods & Crafts offers a page where we could order our turkey and 2) Misty Meadows Farm, which also is listed on the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Kentucky Proud website; see if your state offers this service.
• The Heritage Foods USA website offers a great place to locate heritage turkeys. The site also includes testimonials from previous customers
• Using the database on the Robyn Van En Center for CSA Resources, we found a link to Elmwood Stock Farm 
• Even the government can connect you. If you’re looking for a farmer’s market, where you can browse for a turkey and other dinner fixings, try the Agricultural Marketing Service. 

  This database also allows you to select those markets that may accept payment via WIC and SFMNP (Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program) Vouchers.

• And last by certainly not least, LocalHarvest offered up a list of 14 farms in Kentucky listing turkeys for sale.

With all those results, we feel pretty good about our chances of serving a locally raised turkey for our holiday meal.

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