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Culture of Thanksgiving Food

The turkey industry has made great leaps and bounds over the last hundred years or so, as the turkey industry has expanded its market beyond the winter holiday season. According to the National Turkey Federation, U.S. turkey consumption more than tripled from 1975 to 1999, with per capita consumption at eighteen pounds in 1999 (Daykin 2001). In the 1930s and 1940s per capita turkey consumption remained below three pounds. This number doubled by 1960 as turkey firms developed specialized breeds that produced more breast meat. Consumption increased greatly as further processing was introduced to the turkey industry— lunch meats, turkey ham, sausages, and deli products. In fact, from 1967 to 1992, processing as a percentage of an average turkey plant’s share quadrupled to 18 percent (Ollinger et al 2001: iii).

Similarly to most all areas of agriculture in the United States, the turkey industry has become increasingly concentrated over the last thirty years, although less so than other manufacturing industries. Large turkey farms have become the norm as well, with 80 percent of plants in 1992 employing more than 400 people, compared to only 25 percent of that size in 1972 (Ollinger et al 2001: 6). Plant sizes increased due to slaughtering innovations, and a shift to further processing, which allowed faster plant line speeds.

In the early to mid-20th century turkey demand was concentrated during the holiday season, with most production occurring at that time. A shift in consumer attitudes toward year-round turkey consumption has allowed turkey plants to stabilize their production, and keep employees year-round. Marketing was an integral component for increasing year-round consumption of turkey, as further-processed products, such as traypacks and luncheon meats were aggressively advertised. Increased poultry consumption also occurred due to public health concerns and declining costs for turkey.

Small turkey plants have nearly disappeared, and plant sizes are expected to continue to rise, according to the agricultural report by Ollinger et al, which showed increasing economic returns increase with increases in plant size. The report showed a 17 percent reduction of costs for plants four times larger than the sample mean and a 10 percent reduction for those two times larger than the sample mean (Ollinger et al 2001: 42).

The trend in the turkey industry has been towards vertical integration, when processors own the flocks and their feed, and farmers raise the birds for a set fee. Processors own and manage 93 percent of turkey operations in Minnesota, or are contract producers for the processors. Craig Holden, a Northfield turkey farmer who also specializes in an organic fertilizer company, Sustane, says that only a few companies control 98-99 percent of the market. The current big three in terms of turkey producers are: Jennie-O, Butterball Turkey Co. and Louis Rich Turkey Co. As Holden says, “it’s really become a consolidated industry.”

With the rise of larger and larger turkey farms and vertical integration in the industry, individual turkey farmers have suffered. Vertical integration has taken the power from farm owners and placed it in the hands of large processors such as Jennie-O and Butterball. Farmers are largely at the mercy of the processors, and the entire system becomes more detached from the traditional relationship between farmers and farm. Larger farms with more turkeys produced inevitably leads to a less personalized system of mass production. Clearly, some environmental problems are exacerbated by more turkeys produced with increased efficiency, mainly an increased waste stream. Ethical issues are also raised in regards to the treatment of turkeys in such a system. Are turkeys treated with the same care in mass production systems as they were when they were raised in smaller numbers on open range? Prices for turkey are lower becuase of the increased size and concentration of the turkey industry, but at what cost to individual farmers and the treatment of turkeys themselves?