Two turkeys may have survived, but 200 million of their peers end up on the dinner table at Thanksgiving.
Joe Biden in accordance with the decades-old tradition, he granted a presidential pardon to the two turkeys sent to the White House for Thanksgiving on Monday, marking the unofficial start of the holiday season, reports MTI.
The American president announced the pardon decision at a ceremony held in the White House garden, so the birds will be safely returned to their place of origin and will be safe for the rest of their lives.
Thanksgiving is one of the most important joint holidays for American families, the traditional food of which is turkey.
This year, the National Turkey Federation, the organization of American turkey breeders, sent two specially bred turkeys from the state of Minnesota to the White House. The two 20-week-old, 20-kilogram animals were named Liberty and Bell, reminiscent of the Liberty Bell made during the American War of Independence, which can still be seen in Philadelphia.
The American Turkey Association has been sending a pair of turkeys to the White House Thanksgiving dinner of American presidents since the 1940s. In the late 1980s, the then president George Bush introduced that the two cattle are given grace, which thus does not end up on the dinner table. Since then, this act has also been the unofficial start of the holiday season.
Although two turkeys may not be the highlight of the holiday dinner this year, more than 200 million fowls are expected to reach the table of American families roasted, boiled or in the form of ham.
On Monday, the presidential couple also received the Christmas tree intended for the White House Christmas tree, which this year came from North Carolina, and on which the lights will be lit on the last day of November. The 19-foot, i.e. about five and a half meters, festive tree can be visited in the White House garden until the beginning of January.
Over the weekend, the Capitol’s festive pine tree arrived, which will be tall next to the legislative building, and on which the lights will be turned on next Tuesday. Also called the Christmas Tree of the Nation, the tree standing at the Capitol was transported to the capital from West Virginia, it is a 64-foot, i.e. more than 18 meters, Norwegian pine. (MTI)
