Categories: Business

Americans are gobbling up more turkeys, pies, and meal kits for Thanksgiving than the previous year

American holiday traditions are forever being altered by our changing demographics, and Thanksgiving is no exception. As the country’s population grows more multicultural, so too do the ethnic food offerings on the holiday table. With plant-based diets on the rise, expect an increase in demand for alternatives to turkey and ham. (Everyone roasts Tofurky, but maybe Vegducken deserves a shot?) But even as the holiday’s cornucopia multiplies, we continue to gorge on the classic staples of a Turkey Day feast: 2016 spending on turkey, for instance, increased significantly compared to the previous year.

Some people eschew the holiday entirely. Others may supplement their long weekends with “Friendsgiving” dinners.

Sweet potato demand is rising, alongside the general, though still largely undefined, trend of “clean” eating. Interestingly enough, “organic” sweet potato sales rose 12 percent while conventionally-farmed sweet potato sales dropped by 2 percent in the year ended September 30, 2017. Organic sweet potatoes: coming to a sweet potato casserole near you.

Related Post

Online grocery shopping is making it easier than ever to avoid long check-out lines. Meanwhile, increasingly popular meal kits (like this one by Martha Stewart) claim to reduce holiday hassle by giving cooks everything they need for a festive repast in one big box. Too bad there isn’t a “functional family” kit.

And, of course, pie is on the rise (is that ever not the case?)—specifically the store-bought kind. The pie category has seen a big jump in sales, but not necessarily a surprising one. Family gatherings are inherently communal, and nothing is as unifying as dessert. Or emotional eating.

Jessica Fu
Share
Published by
Jessica Fu

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

6 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

2 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

2 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

2 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

2 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

3 years ago