Seattle mayor pardons tofu turkey for Thanksgiving to draw attention to hunger in community

SEATTLE – As Thanksgiving approaches, Tofurkys in Seattle can breathe easy, even if real turkeys can’t.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray pardoned a soybean-based roast Friday, The Seattle Times reported this week (http://bit.ly/1HEA5Uu ).

Spokesman Jason Kelly says Murray posed with the tofu turkey at City Hall to draw attention to hunger in the community. It will be donated to Rainier Valley Food Bank.

Kelly acknowledged that Seattle’s reputation in the rest of the country is “a little bit ‘granola’” and that Murray was poking fun at himself.

Communications director Jeff Reading said Tuesday that the mayor has no plan to pardon any of Seattle’s urban turkeys “either the literal or figurative variety.”

The maker of Tofurky, Turtle Island Foods, is based in Hood River, Oregon, and produces several tofu or tempeh-based products.