The Emory Report reports – hmm, that doesn’t sound so great…notes? – that Emory will be purchasing and serving 1,600 pounds of heritage breed turkeys this year at its annual Heritage Harvest Festival this year.

[Emory’s sustainable food educator, Julie] Shaffer, working in conjunction with Emory Dining, leveraged her past role as the president of Slow Food Atlanta to bring something unique to Emory: breeds of turkeys that just a few years ago were on the brink of extinction. In fact, Emory is the only college or university in the nation to partner with a national distribution network that specializes in cultivating the resurgence of endangered breeds of turkeys.

And in an era when many are using food as a gateway to occasionally leave the mainstream, the festival won’t just be about eating to your stomach’s content, but also will offer learning opportunities for participants.

“Thanksgiving provides a seasonal opportunity to educate within the context of a holiday filled with good food,” says Patty Erbach, senior director, Emory Dining. “There will be a significant educational component associated with Emory’s Heritage Harvest Feast, including comparison taste-testing between Heritage and industrial turkeys, plus little-known facts about the turkey, and the rest of the sustainable-sourced menu.”