This Jennie-O turkey was for sale at one point at a local Jewel-Osco at 1.99 a pound. It weighs 24.73 lbs and sold for 49.21. Very few countries in the world where such a sight could or would ever be seen.
The internet shows quite clearly that America has a surplus of food. Pictures of food posted everywhere. And a ton of food is wasted here. Either dying on the vine or just not eaten or thrown out. This happens to be one of the more obnoxious examples. Why? The sell by date was December 4th. According to the Better Homes and Gardens frozen turkeys are best cooked within seven months but are still good for two to three years. Not sure how long it was sitting here or how long it had thawed out.
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The turkey was first spied mid morning and in the mid afternoon it was transported in a five gallon plastic bucket to a forest. Racoons, coyotes, and possums have to eat to.
Perhaps in a parallel universe it lived a long natural life and was eaten by a predator. That's what happened tens of thousands of years ago. This website has a running counter compiling how much food is wasted here in America.
There is a Freegan movement here in Chicago "strategies for sustainable living beyond capitalism". There they list good places to look for free food that would otherwise just go to waste.
A few days ago a bunch of apples, oranges, and packages of salad was sitting at the corner of Howard and Ashland unclaimed and covered by snow. By the time they were discovered it wasn't edible and it was all thrown out.
Watching shows like Alaska Last Frontier one can see how hard it is to live off the land. No food wasted there. The turkeys on the show are named Thanksgiving and Christmas. There you have to actually kill the turkeys, pluck, gut them and cook them yourself.
We should all try harder to not waste food, and give food to pantries so that people that need food actually get it. Very disturbing to see food laying around not being eaten when there are people in this world that don't have enough to eat.
What is truly ironic is that the Howard Area Community Center's headquarters are just across the vacant lot at 7638 N Paulina and this could've gone to their food pantry. At least conceivably. There are tons of other outlets where this turkey could've gone to someone who really needed it. Besides just hoping that someone would possibly come upon it randomly in this little travelled alley.
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