Why Instagram Is In An Uproar About Martha Stewart's Turkeys

While we imagine that Martha Stewart is making a spectacular Thanksgiving feast this year, she's currently making some fans feel more anxious than inspired. The celebrity chef and homemaking guru recently posted a picture on Instagram about her Thanksgiving plans that has the internet in an uproar. The image features a distressed-looking bantam chicken at Stewart's farm. "Something to crow about!!!! One of the most vociferous of the Bantams in the poultry yard not happy about the expected, but not approved, departure if the two turkeys. Those turkeys will be our thanksgiving dinner," she captioned the post.

Unsurprisingly, some people did not want to hear about a sad chicken. As one follower put it, "Well i dont blame him. He probably misses his friends. Animals have relationships and feelings too Martha." Vegetarians also shared their opinions, with one commenting, "Friends not food! Think of your daughter and grandkids they don't eat animals." Stewart has shared about her family's diet on her website, noting, "I have a vegetarian daughter, Alexis, and two grandchildren who don't eat meat but do eat fish." Stewart has acknowledged that she has no plans to become vegan but has also noted that most of her meat and eggs avoid supply chain issues by coming from her own farm. However, all of that is not quite enough to pacify upset fans because, well, sad chicken.

While many of Stewart's fans are likely omnivores, it seems that most of them simply don't want to talk about how the Thanksgiving turkey gets from farm to table. One commented on her Instagram post, "I'm not a total vegetarian, but honestly I really don't care to read about how someone is going to murder & eat their farm animals. Some things are better left not posted publicly IMO." Believe it or not, this feeling is an actual, studied phenomenon called omnivore's akrasia, which basically means that we can have concern for animal welfare while still eating meat (via U.S. National Library of Medicine). As summed up by fan @jenniferwaterhousenyc, this essentially translates to, "Ugh- I really don't need to know. Keep it to yourself."

Though many people don't want to know about the sad chicken who misses its turkey friends, not everyone on Instagram is upset. Says reader @hbgiddens, "Dang. Newfound respect Martha. I couldn't harvest my poultry, but that's how it should be. You da queen. That little bantam is adorable by the way."