How wonderful to open up today's Wall Street Journal, one of the world's biggest papers, and to see an article on turkey substitutes for Thanksgiving. (Thanks to Sean McVity for pointing us to it.) It came out the same morning that an extraordinary piece about diet aired on Houston's Fox TV.
I will start with the Fox piece, just in case anybody thinks they like turkey meat more than turkeys, and is wondering why they would look at the Wall Street Journal piece about fake Thanksgiving birds.

The web description of the piece Fox TV piece reads:

"HOUSTON -- A cardiologist in Houston has come up with a special diet that reverses diabetes and heart disease.

"Under the diet, Dr. Baxter Montgomery encourages patients to eat plant-based foods, minimally processed foods (that means all those foods that come prepared in a box or package), and to eat whole foods, as close to their natural state as possible.

"For instance, you could shuck a corn on the cob and just eat it uncooked. He says it's actually delicious that way, plus you get all the nutrients from it.

"Dr. Montgomery also steers his patients away from meat, which he calls 'animal flesh'. He says our digestive systems aren't actually meant to digest meats and it puts an extra burden on the body."

You can watch the brief video, which has interviews with the patients and Dr Montgomery, on line here:
http://tinyurl.com/5nfsyb

Then please go to http://tinyurl.com/6enyu9 to send a quick thank you! Fox needs to know that there are plenty of viewers, both TV and web, who appreciate information on plant based diets.

Thanks to Bruce Friedrich for letting us know about that piece.

Today's, Thursday November 9, Wall Street Journal article, by Beth DeCarbo, is headed, "Any Way You Slice It, It's Not Turkey."

It opens with:
"In this country, anyone can wield the power of the president -- to pardon a Thanksgiving Day turkey.
Vegetarians do it all the time -- skip the bird on the holiday table. But what would a T-Day feast be without the fowl? Enter the faux roast, an option for vegetarians who avoid meat for health or ethical reasons, yet yearn to carve a meaty centerpiece for the sake of nostalgia. For them, there are a number of meatless alternatives. They're readily available at Whole Foods Markets, Trader Joes and other upscale grocers during the holiday season. In the off months, look for them at health-food stores. They're also available over the Internet, but be prepared to pay a premium for cold-pack shipping.

"In most cases, the turkey substitutes are made of tofu, a soybean curd that is both multifunctional and malleable. Some are shaped like a loaf or a roast; others are formed to look like an actual roasted turkey. They're often stuffed with vegetarian dressing and come with meatless "giblet" gravy. One brand even offers a faux wishbone.

"Sure, these might be a hard sell to traditionalists. About 88% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation, with an estimated 46 million birds cooked for the holiday last year.

"Still, for those with a vegetarian on the Thanksgiving Day guest list, there may be a place for a meatless turkey. Generally, they're small and easy to prepare -- especially when compared to stuffing and roasting a 15-pound bird. Consider it a declaration of peace between carnivores and vegetarians.

"This year, we sampled four meatless turkeys to see if they could beat out the bird on the holiday table. For our taste tests, we assembled a variety of people, including a vegetarian, a teenager and an executive chef at a Manhattan restaurant. We quickly discovered that some meatless turkeys tasted better than they looked; others looked better than they tasted. And only one had the nonvegetarians licking their lips."

Wall Street Journal subscribers will find the full, wonderfully positive article on line at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122653028076622317.html

The following link makes the article available to non-subscribers for the next seven days.
http://tinyurl.com/5dr3nc

Please send appreciative letters to the editor. Veggie folks can sing the praises of plant-based diets. Those toying with vegetarianism can send thanks for this mainstream coverage of turkey alternatives.

The Wall Street Journal takes letters at: wsj.ltrs@wsj.com

If you forward this, please forward the whole alert with the link, or just the link, not the full article copied and pasted from the Wall Street Journal web site. You will help the animals by encouraging this kind of media if you forward the link and let the Journal count how many eager clicks the fake turkey judging contest receives.

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published.

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals" and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video.