While President Barack Obama is pardoning two turkeys for Thanksgiving, every one of us can exercise that same presidential power by choosing a nonviolent Thanksgiving observance that spares a turkey’s life.

And here are some good reasons:

• We can brag about pardoning a turkey — like Obama.

• We truly are what we eat. Who wants to be a “butterball”?

• Fruits and vegetables don’t have to carry government warning labels.

• We won’t sweat the environment and food resources devastation guilt trip.

• We won’t spend a sleepless night wondering how the turkey lived and died.

• Our body will appreciate a holiday from saturated fat, cholesterol and hormones.

• We won’t have to call Poultry Hotline to keep our family out of the emergency room.

Seriously, this Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks for our good fortune, health and happiness with a life-affirming, cruelty-free feast of vegetables, fruits and grains.

Our own dinner will feature a soy or wheat-based roast, mashed potatoes, stuffed squash, candied yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. An Internet search on “vegetarian Thanksgiving” is getting us more recipes and other useful information than we could possibly use.

Wes Muirland

Waterville