I don't know about Frank Reese or anything about turkeys,
but I have met one of the farmers/producers/partners in the Good Shepard operation. He was the instructor/speaker at a poultry clinic I attended. We all thought he was wonderful.
He wasn't disparaging at all that I remember about the CX vs heritage. Honestly I would have said he was a bit more critical of the heritage. He professed a life long and I believe genuine love of poultry that he hopes to pass on to others. He was upfront about if you could do heritage despite the cons then great and please do from the conservancy aspect.
We told him we were working on some projects including meat bird crosses. He gave out his contact info and said to feel free to pick his brain about anything poultry related.
He was even nice and honest IMO when it came to hatchery vs breeder. There's only a handful of people in the poultry community I've met that I feel will not only know about but also give me both sides and disclose any biases. He's one of them.
As to the article, on the chart, they do say store brand on the comparison. The only time I see CX and FR singled out specifically is by the author and it honestly reads like a half complete afterthought jammed in at the last minute. The article itself is primarily about commercial vs pasture/locally grown poultry regardless of the breed. Leave out the "What's different about heritage breeds?" part and change the word
heritage to
pasture raised everywhere else and it'll read different. Two different topics and neither done correctly. Author's and or editor's fault. Most people who read it would come out saying the topic was home grown is better than store bought and would happily buy a CX or FR from a local producer.
Your average Joe would click on the local harvest link and congratulate themselves on being so well educated about their food as they thoroughly enjoy their CX "heritage" chicken dinner they bought from Brunty Farms.
