Turkey, Drumstick

Most poultry is conforming, particularly duck and goose and even turkey. If you can get wild game like pheasant and grouse, that is good. However, do avoid battery chickens (chickens raised in tiny, individual cages)— their fatty acid profile is terrible.

The low-fat parts of farm fowl, such as skinless chicken and turkey breast, are good in modest quantities. You should reduce consumption of other parts as much as possible. All parts of duck and goose are fine. Wild birds such as pheasant, grouse, and pigeon are fully conforming.

Farming always began with plants. However, where suitable animals existed, their domestication quickly followed. In the Fertile Crescent, sheep and goats were soon farmed. The same happened in China (pigs), Mexico (turkeys), and Peru (llamas and guinea pigs). The types of plants cultivated and breeds of animals raised were specific to the locality. But the plants and animals of the Fertile Crescent are the ones that spread to Europe and came to dominate the Western food supply until the late Middle Ages (around 1300 to 1500).

Duck and goose consumption is minimal compared to chicken and turkey. Domestic ducks are descended from a hybrid of the Muscovy duck domesticated by Incas in Peru and the mallard duck domesticated by the Chinese some 2,000 years ago. Duck raising is practiced on a limited scale in most countries, usually as a small-farm enterprise, although large flocks of duck are bred in some areas of England, The Netherlands, and the United States.

Turkeys are native to large parts of North America. The Aztec of Mexico and the Zuni Indians of the American Southwest were the first to domesticate them. In 1519, the Spanish brought the Mexican species back to Europe. In 1621, the Pilgrims were able to put hunted wild turkey on the Thanksgiving table in New England. It was not until after World War II that turkeys were raised for meat on a wide scale. They, like chickens, are raised intensively in large covered sheds where they are crammed in so closely that they hardly have room to fall over. Their meat is now almost as cheap as chicken and American turkey consumption has quadrupled too, going from 3.5 pounds (boneless) per person annually in 1946 to 14 pounds annually in 2004.

( . . . ) wildfowl and wild fish are just fine. Poultry, particularly chicken and turkey, tend to be fattier and contain more of the unhealthy fats. The breast (white meat) of the bird is the best, when it has the skin and fat removed, and free-range chickens tend to be leaner and healthier. Duck and goose are also fatty birds, but their fats are semi-liquid at room temperature, indicating a low saturated fat content.