Turkey day for visitors to local farm

Arm-deep inside his Thanksgiving dinner, Tim Touzeau admitted he was not quite sure what he was doing.

He's killed rabbits and other game, the Beale Air Force Base resident said, but birds are a whole new experience. But just because the skill was not in his repertoire would not prevent him from trying his hand at killing and cleaning a 15-pound turkey from start to finish.

"This is a useful skill. Everyone has to eat," he said, plucking little black feathers from his bird's almost-naked body.

Touzeau was one of a handful of Yuba-Sutter and Bay Area families who visited Godfrey Family Farms outside Marysville on Saturday to learn where their food comes from — taking a hands-on role in getting a turkey from the field to their dining room tables.

"I've always been comfortable with the idea of eating things that were killed, caught or foraged," said Pleasant Hill resident Jennifer Ondrejka. "But I've never learned how to do it."

The first-time farmers started easy, learning the process with old laying hens that they would take home for stew meat and stock. They watched and helped as throats were slit, feathers were plucked and organs were pulled from birds' bodies.

The guests could participate in as much or as little of the process as they wanted, starting with the kill.

"Are you kidding me? I'm a city boy," said Howard Perofsky, throwing up his hands in protest.

Instead, he let his partner Scott Davis do the work. After all, Davis is the one raising chickens in their Oakland backyard and who first hooked up with the Godfreys eight months ago to buy meat from the community supported agriculture program.

"It's the ethical thing to do," Davis said. "I'm sick of factory farming. If I'm going to continue to eat meat, it should made so the animal's life isn't miserable."

After picking out their turkeys, some people paused to stroke the birds' red and blue faces and run fingers through their salt-and-pepper feathers.

"When you go to the grocery store and see the packages and it's all done, it's pretty far from where it came from," Davis said. "I just wanted to know I could do this."

A freshly sharpened knife in hand, Brian Godfrey showed the small crowd how to find the turkey's jaw, push aside the feathers and slice quickly through the throat for a quick and relatively painless death.

"It's the worst part of the job. I hate it," Godfrey admitted. "But it makes you look at your food a lot differently. It makes you respect it."

No part of the bird is wasted. The feathers end up in the compost, the entrails are planted for fertilizer and the unwanted gizzards and other parts are fed to other animals on the farm.

"Look at all those feathers coming out from mine!" exclaimed 7-year-old Meridian Ondrejka, who watched in wide-awed wonder with other children.

Once the birds have bled out, they are dipped and swished in a pot of 150-degree water, then set into a plucking machine, which spins them around as rubber, finger-like prongs pull away feathers. Any strays are plucked out by hand.

The actual processing takes a bit more precision. Sharp incisions slice through the neck to loosen the crop, which is pulled out the bottom with the intestines, lungs, heart, kidneys and other organs.

"My hesitation is less about being squeamish than worrying I am going to do it wrong," Jennifer Ondrejka said.

The morning was part processing, part education.

The Godfreys answered their guests' questions about the slaughter and sanitation of factory farming. Because their birds run free-range in the Hallwood pasture, their bodies are more balanced and have more meat on their legs than traditional birds.

Many guests said their community supported agriculture (CSA) participation is about being sustainable consumers and finding uses for all parts of an animal. The Ondrejkas gladly accepted spare turkey livers, with plans on pan-frying them in butter as a snack while they prepare other Thanksgiving treats.

April Touzeau pondered plans to prepare her bird's gizzard, a tough but edible muscle.

"My cooking skills have been stretched since I've been in the CSA," she said. "I'm gonna be Googling when I get home."

Tim Touzeau said he imagines he'll have a sense of accomplishment and pride come dinner Thursday, as his family shares a turkey they saw in life and death.

"It's also Thanksgiving another way that we know the family that raised it here," he said.

The Godfreys raised 50 heritage breed turkeys this year — a mix of Standard Bronzes, Narragansetts, Bourbon Reds, Blue Slates and Midget Whites. They sold almost all of the birds to become holiday dinners but hope to retain a few for next year's breeding stock.

Rose Godfrey said she hosted the do-it-yourself day because so many customers wanted to see the farm and ask about the process.

"A lot of people are interested in farm life," she said. "It's kind of a trend right now."

Many of her guests Saturday took time to wander the farm, chase geese and check out chicken coops. While the grownups shared the brunt of the grunt work, many of their kids joined Godfreys' children to play with the animals.

"How can nobody have fun out here?" asked Meridian Ondrejka, as a chick squirmed in her hands and dozens of others chirped at her feet.

Her parents have been buying meat from the Godfreys for almost a year and brought her to the farm so she could share in the process too.

"We think it's important she knows where her food comes from," Jennifer Ondrejka said. "Anything that gives kids an understanding of what they are eating is going to prevent problems later."

Meridian is eager to know where her food comes from and she told her mom she wants to take hunter safety lessons when she is old enough.

"I like seeing birds a lot but I also like eating turkey," Meridian said. "I like things that are alive, but I like things that are dead because it's nature."

The more exposure Tim Touzeau can give to his children about where food comes from, the better, he said.

"We were worried they going to become vegetarians when they see the pig we are going to be eating, but they are like, 'Yum!'

CONTACT Ashley Gebb at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com