[Justice]

We got our turkey at Safeway.

Tasty too!

[RonHolzwarth]

re: "These fertile motherlands of our food crops are vitally important because our food production depends on "hybridization." To restore vigor and productivity to our crops, we must from time to time make new hybrids by cross-breeding our domesticated plants with the still-wild genes of their relatives.'

This is somewhat related - did you ever wonder why you never see a "wild cow" in a zoo? That is because wild cows are EXTINCT! The last wild cow is believed to have died in what is now Poland in the 1600's.

I think that is a tragedy - there will be no hybridizations with the wild animal anymore!

I am a firm believer that genetic diversity is important for the generations to come.

Hybridization and gene splicing may be only the beginning,,,

[Chad Fairbanks]

And even now, the wild turkeys taste so much better than the "domestic" ones... I miss turkey hunting...

[Wonder Warthog]

"The official Politically Correct line on such campuses is that they accept – nay, impose – "diversity." But in this leftist Orwellian "doublespeak," diversity means a faculty that includes a black Marxist, a Lesbian Marxist, a Latina Marxist, a transgender Marxist, and the like. No genuine intellectual diversity whatsoever is permitted."

Surely this qualifies as a candidate for "Thought of the Day"????

[metalboy]

Yeah, we should no longer call it Turkey. We should call it France. We eat France. We got chunks of France in our stool.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

It sounds like a bunch of gobblygook to me.

[tet68]

The stimulating Turkish beverage became the rage across the European continent in coffee shops named for the caffeine-laden liquid, Cafes.

Wait a minute, just when did caffeine get discovered?
Don't know if I buy this.

Anyway always keep in mind that Ben Franklin wanted the Turkey as the national bird.
It's smart,has great eyes, and can fly too, admittedly not very far.

I had a hen turkey walk by me last week end while deer hunting, came within 20 ft. If they can't spot your eyes and you don't move, there is a good chance they won't identify you, but if you realize that THEY are looking at YOU, it's too late.

[muawiyah]

The claim that North America is a tad short in wild genetic wealth, presumably because it has few Vavilov centers, is not exactly "true".

For example, one of the all-time-great Vavilov centers was in the vicinity of Mammoth Cave. Squash in all it's myriad varieties was developed here and throughout the Ohio Valley.

Sure tells you what the writer eats and what his mother couldn't get him to eat!

[Frank_2001]

Good article!

[X-FID]

our traditional Thanksgiving bird might also have been named for the sound it makes – “Turk, Turk, Turk.”

I didn't know they made that sound, but it reminded me of that Fractured fairy tale cartoon, where the guy who was a tinker changed his occupation to a cobbler and ran around saying "Cobble Cobble" before they blew him away.