We’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to join the growing number of people who’ll skip the turkey this Thanksgiving. There are lots of good reasons to find better and healthier ways to celebrate one of our favorite holidays. Turkey has the same disadvantages as other kinds of meat. To help you along, here are our top ten reasons to skip the bird this year. Remember that what we say about turkey is true of other holiday favorites such as ham as well.

1. If you skip the turkey, which has almost as much heart-attack-causing saturated fat and cholesterol as beef, you’ll help lower your risk of heart disease.

2.  If you skip the turkey, you will help reduce a large source of water pollution.

3.  If you skip the turkey, you’ll lower your risk of many cancers.

4.  If you skip the turkey, you’ll lower your risk for food-borne diseases such as salmonella.

5.  If you skip the turkey, you’ll be taking the single most effective step to fight global warming, since raising livestock is actually the biggest cause of climate change.

6. If you skip the turkey, you’ll significantly reduce your risk of diabetes.

7. If you skip the turkey, you’ll help reduce the number one cause of soil erosion.

8. If you skip the turkey, you’ll save grain and other crops which, if fed to humans instead of turkeys, would help relieve global hunger.

9. If you skip the turkey, you’ll save a sensitive creature from the pain and misery of the factory farm and an early death in a slaughterhouse.

10. If you skip the turkey, you’ll enjoy trying something different for a change and tempt those at your table with your creation!

Fortunately, there are better options to be eaten and enjoyed than turkey. The northwest is home to two of the most popular and best tasting Thanksgiving turkey alternatives around, Tofurky and Field Roast. Yum…With Tofurky you’ll get a turkey-like look, taste and texture that comes with both stuffing and gravy. While Tofurky is traditional style, there’s not an ounce of any animal products in it. Field Roast features its somewhat sophisticated Celebration Roast, with an intriguing blend of herbs and spices, that’s getting rave reviews coast to coast. If you’d like to have a bit of fine dining at home, Celebration Roast is a gourmet choice.

If you enjoy cooking and would like to make your own holiday fare, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve assembled some of our favorite Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes for you to try this Thanksgiving.  See our popular Veg-Feasting Cookbook for even more delicious recipes to try.