Turkey Day Inflation: Thanksgiving Dinner Up 13% Over Last Year

[akfools]

10,000 Line Up For Free Turkey Dinners In South LA
November 22, 2011 11:30 AM



 Low-income residents and seniors are lining up for free turkey dinners from a local car company.

As many as 10,000 people are expected to show up for the “23rd Annual Jackson Limousine Service Turkey Dinner Give-Away”, which started at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Sky2 was overhead Monday night as a line wrapped around the company’s service fleet yard at 3669 West Slauson Ave.

Yvette Freeman, one of the first people to pick up a meal Tuesday morning, waited in line for two days with a group of family and friends.

“It feels good. It feels really good,” says Freeman, who realized she couldn’t afford her own Thanksgiving dinner when she went to the grocery store last weekend.

“It’s a lot of people, a lot of families from all walks of life,” EJ Jackson, founder and president of Jackson Limousine, told CBS2. “You’ll see them. We love them, but that’s what we are here for; to help one another.”

Turkey and all the dinner fixings, including cornbread, yams and cranberry sauce, are being given out on a first-come, first-served basis.

“It is tough ’cause I was in need,” Lashonda Howard said. “I gotta get down here because this is my only hope.”

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/11/22/10000-expected-to-line-up-for-free-turkey-dinners-in-south-la/

[Lisa]

Would that be hallal Turkey?
L

[akfools]

Turkey Day Inflation: Thanksgiving Dinner Up 13% Over Last Year

November 22nd, 2011

A new report from the American Farm Bureau Federation says that Thanksgiving dinner will cost Americans 13% more this year than it did in 2010, yet another indicator that price inflation with respect to necessities like food and energy is not a transitory phenomenon.

    The retail cost of menu items for a classic Thanksgiving dinner including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the basic trimmings increased about 13 percent this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

    AFBF’s 26th annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $49.20, a $5.73 price increase from last year’s average of $43.47.

    …

    In addition, “the era of grocers holding the line on retail food cost increases is basically over,” Anderson explained. “Retailers are being more aggressive about passing on higher costs for shipping, processing and storing food to consumers, although turkeys may still be featured in special sales and promotions close to Thanksgiving.

    …

    A total of 141 volunteer shoppers from 35 states participated in this year’s survey. Farm Bureau’s survey menu has remained unchanged since 1986 to allow for consistent price comparisons.

    Source: FBNews

While Mr. Bernanke and the Federal Reserve claim inflation is under control, those of us who actually visit grocery stores know that food prices have been rising steadily for years.

Grocers have tried to keep prices low while taking the hit on the wholesale supply side, but as commodity costs have risen their margins have collapsed, making it ever more difficult for them to turn a profit. Thus, they have been left with no choice but to pass those costs on to consumers.

The Federal Reserve has officially committed to maintaining inflation at a rate of around 2%. The result of this policy is yet another mega-fail by the best and the brightest – a sharp 13% rise in Thanksgiving food prices (and similar increases in other essential goods necessary for survival). This year the Fed estimates inflation will reach between 3.5% and 4.5% – the fastest pace in three years. Considering government estimates will manifest as price increases of four or five times the official expectations we can only imagine where prices will be come Thanksgiving 2012. It should do wonders for the 100 million Americans in or on the edge of poverty.

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/turkey-day-inflation-thanksgiving-dinner-up-13-over-last-year_11222011

[akfools]

Turkey Farmers Lose Out on Thanksgiving Rally as Corn Costs Rise
November 23, 2011

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Near-record prices for Thanksgiving turkeys may do little to boost profit for some U.S. producers after a surge in spending on feed grain.

The average cost of corn, the primary feed ingredient, jumped 58 percent this year from 2010 and is headed for an all- time high, erasing the benefit of retail turkeys that the government says averaged $1.59 a pound this year, up 6.4 percent from last year. About 70 percent of the cost of raising each bird is feed, farmers say.

Higher spending on grain is hurting profit for processors including Hormel Foods Corp. and led Butterball LLC to announce the closure of a Colorado plant, even as the American Farm Bureau estimated turkey served at Thanksgiving meals tomorrow will be 22 percent more expensive than in 2010. Feed purchases for livestock will rise faster this year than the value of production, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.

“Any time corn prices jump, our costs go up a lot,” said John Burkel, a fourth-generation turkey farmer in Badger, Minnesota, who raises about 2 million birds he sells to grocers including SuperValu Inc. and Safeway Inc. “We’ll see the best revenue numbers ever, but costs are so high that we’re just running more dollars through our fingers.”

Burkel estimates he will spend $1.688 million this year to generate $1.755 million in revenue, a 3.8 percent profit margin that’s down from 4.7 percent last year and below his annual goal of 8 percent to 10 percent. Burkel said he has cut his flock by about 500,000, or 20 percent, to save on feed costs that jumped about $250,000 from 2010.

Closing Plant

Butterball, the largest U.S. producer of turkey products, said in September it will close its Longmont, Colorado, processing plant next month after feed costs it pays for farmers to supply its birds surged $65 million on average annually for five years. The company is based in Garner, North Carolina.

Hormel Foods, the maker of Spam lunch meat, increased prices and improved its operating efficiency to offset “steep” grain costs, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Ettinger said during an earnings call with investors yesterday. The Austin, Minnesota-based company anticipates “flat” profit for its turkey business next year as grain costs increase and the company raises prices, he said.

Retail prices last month, just before the seasonal peak in demand, reached $1.673 a pound, USDA data show. While that’s 0.004 cent below the monthly record of $1.677 in October 2010, it is 35 percent higher from four years ago and leaves prices this year at their highest ever on average.

History Highs

“We’ve never in history seen the value of the commodity turkey as high as we are now,” said Russell Whitman, the vice president of the poultry division at commodity researcher Urner Barry in Toms River, New Jersey. “The retailer has had to shell out more dollars for the bird than ever before.”

The cost of traditional foods at a Thanksgiving dinner will jump 13 percent this year, the most in two decades, with a meal for 10 people estimated at $49.20, the American Farm Bureau Federation said on Nov. 10. Turkey was the most expensive item on the menu and had the biggest gain, with a 16-pound bird up 22 percent at $21.57.

Consumers won’t be paying record prices, because retailers sell turkeys as discounted “loss leaders” during the Thanksgiving season to bring people into the store in the hope they will buy other products, Whitman said. In November, turkeys are usually the cheapest of the year because of store promotions, said Tom Elam, the president of FarmEcon LLC, an agriculture and food-industry consultant in Carmel, Indiana.

Largest Consumer

The U.S. is the world’s largest turkey consumer, and an estimated 46 million birds will be consumed on Thanksgiving this year, according to the National Turkey Federation.

Increased sales overseas and tighter supplies also are lifting prices. U.S. exports climbed 25 percent this year, with shipments to China up 78 percent, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service data show.

After supplies and feed costs surged in 2008, causing losses for many farmers, production fell. The U.S. will produce 7 percent less turkey meat and raise 9.2 percent fewer birds compared with three years ago, USDA data show. Signs indicate that farmers are still shrinking supplies. Minnesota, the largest U.S. producer, will raise 46.5 million turkeys this year, down 1.1 percent from last year, the USDA said Sept. 23.

The price turkey farmers are “receiving at grocery stores have been higher than what it had been, so it’s been able to cover the cost for some” farmers, said Steve Olson, the executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association. “But for other guys, it depends when they bought corn, so they are losing money.”

Corn Rally

Corn prices surged 49 percent in the past two years and this year averaged $6.87 a bushel, which would be the highest ever. Last year, the grain averaged $4.36, and in 2008, when prices surged to a record near $8, the average was $5.38. The rally in 2011 was fueled by the smallest U.S. crop in three years and a jump in use of grain to make ethanol, which will exceed feed demand for the first time ever.

“We had dramatically increased grain prices due to the demand for ethanol and the short crops,” said Paul Hill, an Ellsworth, Iowa-based turkey farmer and chairman of West Liberty Foods, a farmers cooperative in West Liberty, Iowa.

Rising costs means some farmers are “having a hard time selling for a profit, and that impacts their ability to repay loans and the ability of the banks to finance them,” said John Blanchfield, who directs the ABA Center for Agricultural and Rural Banking at the American Bankers Association in Washington.

Lending Slows

Mike Firestine, a senior vice president at Fulton Bank in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, said last month that he denied a loan request from one of the state’s largest turkey farmers, whom he had been lending to for 25 years.

“As feed costs increase, the price they’re selling the turkeys for hasn’t increased proportionately,” Firestine said. “We, as bankers, are more hesitant to make a loan on a tighter cash flow. We need to make loans, but we have to be cautious.”

When a farmer isn’t on contract with a processor, “it makes it difficult to lend to them,” he said. “The turkey market is very volatile.”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-23/turkey-farmers-lose-out-on-thanksgiving-rally-as-corn-costs-rise.html

[Psalm 51:17]

11/22/11

http://news.yahoo.com/economy-means-scaled-back-thanksgiving-many-224134962.html

Some are holding potluck dinners instead of springing for the entire feast. Others are staying home rather than flying. And a few are skipping the turkey altogether.

On this the fourth Thanksgiving since the economy sank, prices for everything from airline flights to groceries are going up, and some Americans are scaling back. Yet in many households, the occasion is too important to skimp on. Said one mother: "I don't have much to give, but I'll be cooking, and the door will be open."

Thanksgiving airfares are up 20 percent this year, and the average price of a gallon of gas has risen almost 20 percent, according to travel tracker AAA. Rail travelers were also affected, with fares on most one-way Amtrak tickets up 2 to 5 percent.

Still, about 42.5 million people are expected to travel, the highest number since the start of the recession.

But even those who choose to stay home and cook for themselves will probably spend more. A 16-pound turkey and all the trimmings will cost an average of $49.20, a 13 percent jump from last year, or about $5.73 more, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, which says grocers have raised prices to keep pace with higher-priced commodities.

Read more

[Psalm 51:17]

Would that be hallal Turkey?
L

Just to throw this out there too - didn't the Pilgrims and Puritans FAST on Thanksgiving Day? It seems like Thanksgiving Day in America today means you can eat all you want all day.

T-Giving Day may be the only true holy "holiday" of the year, but modern day America sure has paganized it.

[akfools]

Just to throw this out there too - didn't the Pilgrims and Puritans FAST on Thanksgiving Day?

I've never heard that before. I wouldn't doubt it. They lied to us about everything else. Do you have any more information about that? Links Please!

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.pilgrims.net/thanksgiving.htm

The Truth About the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving
and
Where to Get Help Re-creating a
Seventeenth-Century Style Harvest Feast
or
"The First Thanksgiving"

Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims seem to go together, just like Christmas and Santa Claus--but the truth is, the Pilgrims never held an autumnal Thanksgiving feast. Before you cancel the turkey, take a look at the origin of that particular myth. In some ways, the truth is even more intriguing.

The Pilgrims did have a feast in 1621, after their first harvest, and it is this feast which people often refer to as "The First Thanksgiving". This feast was never repeated, though, so it can't be called the beginning of a tradition, nor was it termed by the colonists or "Pilgrims" a Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, to these devoutly religious people, a day of thanksgiving was a day of prayer and fasting, and would have been held any time that they felt an extra day of thanks was called for. Nevertheless, the 1621 feast has become a model that we think of for our own Thanksgiving celebration and we do know something of the truth about it.

We can assume, for example, that the harvest feast was eaten outside based on the fact that the Colonists didn't have a building large enough to accommodate all the people who came. Native People were definately among the invited guests, and it's possible. even probable, that turkey (roasted but not stuffed) and pumpkin in some form, found their way to the table. And it gets better. This is the way the feast was described in a first-hand account presumably by a leader of the colony, Edward Winslow, as it appears in Mourt's Relation:

"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, Many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

From this we know that the feast went on for three days , included ninety "Indians", and food was plentiful. In addition, to the vensison provided by the Indians, there was enough wild fowl to supply the village for a week. The fowl would have included ducks, geese, turkeys and even swans.

Much of the information we have about the feast, and this period in the lives of these people, is the result of research conducted by the staff at Plimoth Plantation, the living museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, that re-creates the lives of the Pilgrims with Mayflower II, the 1627 Pilgrim Village, and a native homesite. From this research we know about the foods and recipes that would have been available to them, and from two first hand accounts(the second was written by William Bradford, Governor of the colony for 33 years, and can be read in Of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647), we have a good idea of how the village looked, what the colonists wore, how they spoke, what animals they owned and how they lived. We even know what games they played, what their views may have been on everything from their new home to religion and politics. And with all this knowledge, we piece together what foods would have been served at the feast, how the table looked, how the setting looked, even perhaps what the conversation was like.

For anyone who wants to re-create this feast for themselves, Plimoth Plantation, offers the Thanksgiving Primer. From it, we offer the following recipe as an addition to your own feast on Thanksgiving Day.

[akfools]

Interesting. Thanks.

Thanksgiving to the Lord should be an every day thing for born again believers. Prayer and fasting makes more sense than stuffing yourself with a variety of foods.

[akfools]

Growing up, Thanksgiving day was pretty much the only meal of the year my parents would bother to say a prayer before we ate. Or as most people refer to it as "saying grace".

[Psalm 51:17]

Growing up, Thanksgiving day was pretty much the only meal of the year my parents would bother to say a prayer before we ate. Or as most people refer to it as "saying grace".

And to throw this out there too - Easter has been the only time of the year when the church buildings would be Standing Room Only(at least with my experiences), and Xmas is the only time of the year when people would (merely)think about Jesus. Of course, attending a church building and merely believing in Jesus's "birth" doesn't get you saved.