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Turtle Island Foods is an American company founded in 1980 in
Forest Grove, Oregon Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a commuter town in the Portland metro area. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850, then incorpora ...
and headquartered in Hood River, which produces Tofurky, a popular
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat ( red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetaria ...
and
vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...
alternative to
turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, as well other meatless products. All of the company's products are vegan, and most are kosher-certified by the Kosher Services of America. Turtle Island Foods is also the first company in the United States to have their products approved by The Vegan Society in the United Kingdom.


History

Headquartered in
Hood River, Oregon The city of Hood River is the seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in Oregon whe ...
, Turtle Island Foods began in 1980 in
Forest Grove A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
with intentions "to create delicious, nutritious, convenient and affordable vegetarian food." It was founded by Seth Tibbott,Company History
/ref> who began by producing tempeh for friends and family. Tibbot was inspired to create meat substitutes after having become a vegetarian in college. The company name is derived from a common legend found amongst the native people of North America. Once, when all of
earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...
was underwater, a
turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked ...
offered its shell as a home for land animals, and that shell became North America. As a result, several Native American and
First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...
refer to the continent as "Turtle Island." With the help of family, Tibbot eventually expanded his company to what is now the second largest tempeh producer in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. Turtle Island Foods has no parent company. The famous Tofurky was only developed in 1995, and initially sold in local markets in
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...
. According to Tibbot, the first twenty years of the company had not been economically fruitful, and he built tree houses on a neighbor's property in Husum, Washington, which he rented out to tenants for additional income. During the Thanksgiving season of 1995, the company sold a total of 500 of their Tofurky roasts. In the early 2000s, the company began to grow considerably, shipping a record-breaking 201,108 of their Tofurky roasts in 2006, a 27% increase from the year prior. In 2008, Turtle Island became a sponsor of The Humane Society, the first food processor to do so in the society's history. In 2011, the company announced plans to build a new plant in Hood River at a cost of $10 million with a goal to achieve a LEED platinum certification on the building. The new plant opened in October 2012.


Ecological responsibility

Since 1995, when Turtle Island Foods took an official stand against
GMO A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...
s, they have made "every effort possible" to avoid them. Much of what the company produces is organic, and Turtle Island Foods is actually an "Organic Processor", certified as Oregon Tilth Certified Organic. According to the Cornucopia Institute, Turtle Island uses tofu sourced from 100% organically farmed
soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu ...
s, and all manufacturing of products is done in the company's facility. The Green Stars Project awarded Tofurky 5/5 green stars for overall social and environmental impact. The company refuses food ingredients made with
hexane Hexane () is an organic compound, a straight-chain alkane with six carbon atoms and has the molecular formula C6H14. It is a colorless liquid, odorless when pure, and with boiling points approximately . It is widely used as a cheap, relatively ...
solvent extraction, choosing instead expeller pressed isolates and concentrates. In 2005, Turtle Island Foods began to purchase all of its electricity from the Blue Sky renewable energy project of the northwestern
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
.Sustainability
/ref> All paperboard packaging is recycled. In addition, a certain percentage of each year's Tofurky sales is donated to an environmental charity.


Products

Turtle Island Foods currently produces the following, many in a number of varieties:


In popular culture

In November 2014,
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
mayor Ed Murray
pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...
ed a Tofurky at
Seattle City Hall Seattle City Hall (also known as the Seattle Municipal Building) is the home of the offices of the mayor and city council of Seattle, Washington, located between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue in the downtown area of the city. Most city departments ...
.


See also

* List of meat substitutes * List of vegetarian and vegan companies *
List of companies based in Oregon This is a list of companies based in Oregon. Oregon is the ninth largest by area and the 27th most populous of the 50 United States. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Oregon in 2010 was $168.6 billion; it is the United States's 26th wealthiest ...


References


Works cited

*


External links

*Company {{official website, http://www.tofurky.com/ Privately held companies based in Oregon Meat substitutes Companies established in 1980 Companies based in Hood River, Oregon 1980 establishments in Oregon Vegetarian companies and establishments of the United States