TALKING TURKEY

Data normal enough to be thankful for

IS IT US, or is it really beginning to feel like holiday seasons of old? Maybe it’s just the absence of focus on masks and social distancing, important though they remain; maybe it’s having weathered midterm elections without—so far—the expected national conflagration. Could it be that families gathering this year might restrict their disagreements to ref calls on the football field? In any case, we thank Kerry Murray and the team at FinanceBuzz for compiling some old-fashioned, non-controversial data on Turkey Day 2022—unless you’re feeling defensive about claiming you made your pumpkin pie from scratch.

———————————————- 

40: Number, in millions, of whole turkeys eaten in the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day.

(Sources: The Economist, University of Arkansas, USDA)

96: Number of millions of dollars spent on stuffing at Thanksgiving each year.

(Sources: National Grocers Association, Kraft Heinz Company)

40: Percentage of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup sales that occur around Thanksgiving.

(Source: Smithsonian Magazine)

80: Pounds of cranberries bought at Thanksgiving each year, in millions.

(Source: Agricultural Marketing Research Center, Vox)

5: Percentage increase in average cost of Thanksgiving dinner this year.

(Sources: New York Times, American Farm Bureau Federation, FinanceBuzz)

35: Percentage of Americans who prefer pumpkin pie as their Thanksgiving dessert.

(Sources: YouGovAmerica, FinanceBuzz, FiveThirtyEight)

37: Percentage of Thanksgiving pie makers who claim to make their pies completely from scratch.

(Sources: YouGovAmerica, Instacart)

58.83: Percentage of American travel survey respondents planning to stay close to home for the holidays.

(Source: Zeta)

4.5: Average number of weeks before Christmas that Americans put up their trees.

(Source: Treetopia)

22: Percentage of respondents who feel judged when they put up their Christmas trees earlier than the norm.

(Source: Treetopia)