Thanksgiving season is prime time for conversations and debates around the table about our food system. It seems that the Thanksgiving turkey is representative of just how complicated food systems decisions can be. History, family tradition, modern advertising, modern genetics, and international markets all confound the shopper.
Let’s look at the range of turkey products that will be marketed to you this month and what goes through the head of this economist for each one.
1. “standard brand” Frozen Turkey: $0.79 per pound
NEWFLASH: In 2011, the national average price for live turkeys was ~$0.68 per pound. It costs about $0.40 per pound to process this bird and get it ready for sale. Feed costs went up significantly in 2012. You are getting this turkey at far below the price it costs to produce it and market it.
2. “that national brand” Fresh Turkey: $1.39 per pound
Yes, Grandpa still buys that one. He lived through the Great Depression so that must be where he gets his food shopping traits. Interestingly, he lived on a farm and says that they never ran short on food to eat. Regardless, he prioritizes his grocery shopping based on unit pricing and good deals. Still, turkeys were always fresh when he grew up. You won’t find him buying a frozen turkey.
3. “The “eco” store brand” Frozen or Fresh Turkey: $1.99 per pound
My mom started buying these once she realized I was going to major in Environmental Studies. She grew up with those depression-era parents so she really knows something about finding a deal. She reminds me all through dinner that she “hopes that I am pleased that she got the environmental turkey.” These brands usually have amazingly interesting claims that my mom would never know to second guess. “Never given hormones”: Newsflash: NO HORMONES are legally approved for use in turkey production. “Vegetarian feed”: I tried the vegetarian thing for a bit. My mom remembers and she figures this attribute is perfect for me.
4. “the local” Fresh Turkey: $3.50 per pound
I thought that if “food miles” were so important that it should be less expensive to buy a turkey that has not been trucked 1,500 miles to reach me. Well, why does a local turkey cost so much more? One reason is GRAIN. Turkeys eat grain to grow, and all that grain needs to be trucked or trained in from hundreds of miles away. Each 20 pound turkey eats about 60 pounds of grain that is transported in. That complicates your food miles calculation doesn’t it?
5. “the small-farm local” Fresh Turkey: $5.00 per pound
I am doing the math, 20 lbs x $5.00 per pound… that’s a $100 turkey in the room! I got one of these this year. I can’t really give you the full cost benefit analysis that I ran on this turkey, but here is one savory tidbit. As I cooked this bird, I drained off 3 quarts of drippings just to keep the roasting pan from overflowing. Those drippings alone should yield me gallons of turkey broth before I even boil down the carcass. Have you seen the price of poultry broth in stores these days?
