November is known to be “turkey season” because of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Most assume that everyone has the usual turkey, stuffing, corn, mashed potato and gravy dinner, but that is not always the case. A lot of families around the United States serve alternative foods at Thanksgiving for a multitude of reasons.
There are many factors that contribute to the decision to do Thanksgiving a little differently. Some people are simply vegetarians or vegans and can’t eat meat or other animal products. Allie Zucker, a senior, made the life choice to become a vegan last August. Because of this choice, Zucker is limited in how she makes her meals. This Thanksgiving, Zucker has an alternative dinner. Zucker said, “I eat similar foods as everyone else, besides turkey obviously, but I just look up different recipes for everything.”
Allergies also play a key role in some Thanksgiving dinners. foodallergy.org states that fifteen million Americans have food allergies. Senior Azariah Courtney has had food allergies for most of her life. Because of her allergies, it is difficult to eat normal meals, let alone a typical Thanksgiving dinner. For Thanksgiving, Courtney said, “My family has always had alternative food on Thanksgiving. For a long time my mom was vegan so we never had a turkey. She made lots of dishes, one of which was black bean and veggie burritos.”
Some people have their own family traditions. Not everyone grew up spending all day in the kitchen trying to make a turkey that is not dry. Some can’t afford a turkey or just don’t like the taste of turkey. Those troubles often result in alternate traditions, like going out to eat at the same restaurant every year, making ham instead of turkey or making a completely different meal in general.
Senior Logan Morin and her family do something a little different for their Thanksgiving dinners. Her family eats crab legs and other seafoods for dinner. Morin said, “This tradition started from my grandparents because none of my mom’s siblings liked turkey, so instead of having to put up a fight with them, my grandma changed to seafood and it kinda stuck with my family as well.”
