Why you should buy a whole bird this Christmas

Food waste is on the radar more than ever and Christmas is arguably one of the biggest offenders. A staggering 270,000 tonnes of food waste is generated in the UK each year at Christmas, and more than half of us Brits say that we over-spend on food at this time of year.

From sprouts to sausages, I’m sure we’re all guilty of throwing away a little (or a lot) as the Christmas festivities come to a close. It’s not just a matter of split bin bags and less-than-savoury leftovers: food waste is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, contributing towards 20% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Though you might think that turkey would be one we’d manage to munch our way through entirely – it’s estimated that an equivalent of 2 million turkeys are wasted each year. That’s why, this year (and every year) we’re promoting using the whole bird at Christmas.

Our top reasons why you should buy a whole bird this Christmas:

1. It tastes good

Simple as. Perhaps it’s more of an acquired taste, but once you’ve acquired it there’s no looking back. Darker meat is renowned for its succulence (whereas breast can be a little bit dry) and often has a deeper flavour. Personally, we love the mixture of the two.. but we wouldn’t go without the leg, thigh and wing meat.

2. Turkey stock

Without the whole bird you can’t make a stock. Without a stock you can’t make delicious turkey soups and stews (and not to mention filling your house with the most wonderful smells as you simmer your stock on the stovetop).

Keep your eyes peeled for the ultimate turkey stock tips coming to our blog in the very near future. We know it can seem like an intimidating affair, but it’s surprisingly easy (and completely worth it).

3. Turkey leftovers

For us foodies, all you make with your turkey AFTER Christmas is something to look forward to as much as the main event. Think turkey and potato hash with poached eggs and a sprinkling of cheddar, turkey & cranberry toasties, turkey noodle soup with fresh coriander and lime and turkey gyozas dipped into sesame and soy sauce. Yep, there’s a lot more to turkey leftovers than curry.

4. It helps our British farmers

As delicious a filled-to-the-brim turkey toastie might be, tackling the issue of wasted turkey requires a step further back. If we’re not buying the whole bird in the first place the wasted meat might not be in your own bin, but it is almost certainly in your farmers. The popularity of turkey breast means that our farmers can end up with more legs than they could possibly use and food waste rockets.

Less wastage for our farmers will only ever be a good thing. Our British farmers are facing a lot of flak in the media, so let’s give them a helping hand by trying out a whole bird this Christmas.

We hope we’ve convinced you to give a whole turkey a go. It tastes great, it’s the star of leftover feasting and it lends our hard-working farmers a hand. Even if you’re opting for a smaller Christmas gathering this year, with our selection of turkey sizes we’ve got you covered. Now where’s the cranberry sauce…