The Horror: Rockford Could Be Looking At A Thanksgiving Turkey Shortage
This news will be received differently depending on your household. At my house, there's a woman that I'm married to that is not going to be happy about this, while at Joe Dredge's place, he'll have to work hard to hide his glee at a potential turkey shortage.
Some Love Thanksgiving Turkey, Others...Not So Much
My wife Amy begins fantasizing about an elaborate November turkey feast sometime around Valentine's Day, and it grows exponentially until Thanksgiving rolls around. My morning show partner, Joe Dredge, would prefer that authorities give turkey dinners the same treatment that they've given indoor smoking. Ban it. They're both good people, but differ wildly on turkey.
Is There A Real Shortage, Or Is This All About Raising Prices?
That was my first question upon hearing about the very real possibility of there being difficulty in finding the perfect turkey for your holiday feast. After doing some research, I've come to the conclusion that a shortage of turkeys, at least the most popular sized turkeys, is not a ploy by the nation's turkey producers to grab more out of your wallet.
The most popular size of turkey for Thanksgiving feasts is 14 pounds because it feeds about 14 people. The smaller family celebrations of last year (when the CDC recommendation for family gatherings was 10 people or less) required smaller turkeys. This, combined with factory shutdowns due to COVID-19, the tight labor market, rising corn and grain prices, and the fact that farms haven't been able to develop 14-pound turkeys fast enough, means there is now a turkey shortage, the New York Post reports.
The piece goes on to point out that some grocery stores around the nation may see their supply of 14-pound turkeys to drop by more that 50 percent, and that you should consider yourself lucky to find a bird weighing less than 20 pounds.
Like I said earlier, the reaction to this news will be different from household to household. A survey about Thanksgiving preferences taken a couple of years back showed that 68 percent of Americans secretly dislike a classic Thanksgiving menu, and just eat it to honor tradition. Over 2,000 US. adults took part in the survey and 19 percent of the participants expressed their dislike for turkey.