WASHINGTON - Standing just out of the sleet, beneath the White House’s north portico Wednesday, President Barack Obama cleared two turkeys for life on a Virginia farm, rather than death on a dinner table.
“The office of the presidency, the most powerful position in the world, brings with it many awesome and solemn responsibilities. This is not one of them,” he said. “But the White House turkey pardon is a great tradition.”
Flanked by his daughters, Malia and Sasha, Obama granted “Popcorn” a presidential pardon and also saved the bird’s understudy “Caramel.”
“Popcorn, you have a full reprieve from cranberry sauce and stuffing. We wish you well,” Obama said.
The White House turned the decision of which turkey to pardon over to the public in what has become a new online tradition in the past decade. People were asked to vote through social media including Facebook and Twitter for either #TeamPopcorn or #TeamCaramel. Voting ended Tuesday evening.
“The competition was stiff, but we can officially declare that Popcorn is the winner, proving that even a turkey with a funny name can find a place in politics,” Obama said. “As for Caramel, he’s sticking around, and he’s already busy raising money for his next campaign.”
Popcorn, weighing in at 37 pounds, 6 ounces, is described on the White House website as having a “proud strut” and a “garbled” gobble with “longer notes.” He apparently likes corn and the song “Halo” by Beyonce.
He has blue coloring under each eye and is photographed with a long snood, the fleshy bit that hangs down over the beak.
Caramel weighs in at 38 pounds, 4 ounces. He is described on the site as having a “steady and deliberate” strut and a “quick, clear and frequent” gobble. He enjoys soybean meal and the song “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.
Caramel’s photo shows him with a chipped beak and a short, pointed snood.
According to the White House website, formal turkey pardons began in 1989 with President George H.W. Bush, but Americans have sent turkeys to the White House at least since Abraham Lincoln was president. Many presidents granted the birds a reprieve, though some were not so lucky.
Later Wednesday, the Obama family donated two processed turkeys to a nearby homeless shelter.
“This is a season to not only be thankful for the incredible blessings that we have, but also to remember the neediest and generously serve those who are not as fortunate,” Obama said.
Official designations of a day of thanks were infrequent until Lincoln proclaimed that a national Thanksgiving Day would be celebrated in 1863 during the Civil War, according to the National Archives. Since that year the holiday has been observed annually. The official date was changed to the third Thursday of November in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to try to lengthen the holiday shopping period during the Great Depression, a move reversed to the fourth Thursday by an act of Congress in 1941 after constituents objected to the change.
According to the U.S. Agriculture Department, an estimated 242 million turkeys were raised in the United States in 2013, a 5 percent increase from 2012.
With 29 million turkeys, Arkansas is the third-largest turkey-producing state in the country, beaten out by Minnesota (45 million turkeys) and North Carolina (35 million), according to the USDA.
For years the National Turkey Federation has donated the pardon-eligible fowl.
The federation’s public relations manager, Kimmon Williams, said the federation chairman traditionally raises and selects the turkeys that travel to the White House. The federation changes chairmen yearly. John Burkel of Badger, Minn., picked this year’s contenders.
Williams said male turkeys, called toms, are more likely to be selected because they look and gobble like people expect a turkey to.
“Turkeys have a very distinct strut,” she said. “When they are feeling strong and kind of strutting, their tails are kind of fluffed out in a fanning motion.”
She said the chairman aims for a confident bird that can handle people, noise, lights and being eye-to-eye with the leader of the free world.
To see which turkey can handle the pressure of being the National Turkey, the chairmen play music, take photos and have schoolchildren visit the farm before choosing a bird and a backup, Williams said.
“It’s a lot of thought that goes into it,” she said.
Burkel drove the 19-week old turkeys to Washington by van.
After the ceremony, the turkeys will be on display at Mount Vernon for Christmas and will “fully retire” to Morvan Park’s Turkey Hill, in Leesburg, Va. Morvan Park is a historic turkey farm at the home of former Virginia Gov. Westmoreland Davis.
“They are rolling out the red carpet for them,” Williams said.
While no protesters were present Wednesday, three activists with United Poultry Concerns on a cold day earlier this month stood on the edge of the park across the street from the White House and passed out fliers urging people to “discover a new tradition.” Their flier says domestic turkeys are fattened rapidly, causing them to be lame and have underdeveloped organs.
A banner spread across the leaves in Lafayette Park asked, “Why have a headless turkey with dead wings and leg stumps for dinner?”
Turkeys going into the food supply are killed between 14 and 18 weeks of age, Williams said this week. The pardoned birds will live in luxury for the rest of their days.
Their lifespan is usually brief.
“Generally speaking, after the presentation they last 18 months,” she said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/28/2013