Talking turkey at the last minute

Along with countless others who put off their Thanksgiving shopping until the last minute, Kathy Doughten spent some of her Tuesday picking through Honeysuckle Whites, Butterball and store-brand birds.

After all, they don't call it Turkey Day for nothing.

"It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without turkey," said the Cape Girardeau resident as she shopped at Schnucks. "But I usually get everything before today. I never procrastinate. This year I just kept putting it off."

Ninety-five percent of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. They also estimate that 46 million turkeys will be sold by Thursday. Statistics the group didn't have, however, is how many shoppers wait until a day or two before Thanksgiving to buy them.

Dennis Marchi, the manager of Schnucks, said the number is likely high.

"We'll go through hundreds of turkeys in these two days," Marchi said on Tuesday. "Some people put it off. But some people buy at the last minute so they can get fresh turkeys."

Getting fresh

Marchi said that 22 percent of his store's Thanksgiving turkey sales are fresh turkeys, a trend that seems to be gaining popularity. Most of the people buying frozen turkeys on Tuesday, he said, were likely buying them on sale to store until Christmas.

Most people still buy frozen turkeys, he said.

Wayne Abernathy, the meat manager of Save-A-Lot, said they usually sell about 200 cases of frozen turkeys -- four birds to a case -- each year. But he expected to sell another 25 to 30 cases of turkeys between Tuesday and Thursday.

"They'll hit us pretty good Wednesday," he said. "It's just the way some people do it. Of course, some people started buying theirs in September."

Mary Ann Sample of Jackson was not among those. She perused turkeys along the Schnucks meat aisle Tuesday trying to find the perfect bird.

Her reason for waiting?

"Time," she said. "It got away from me. I just ran out of time."

Some, however, would prefer a turkey-less holiday. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, made its annual pitch last week for people to substitute turkeys with something like "tofurky," with vegetarian gravy and pumpkin pie with vegan whipped cream.

PETA argues that turkeys are slaughtered in inhumane ways and that people should change their carnivorous ways. Others don't think so.

"How can you have an anti-turkey Turkey Day?" asked Sherrie Rosenblatt, a spokesman for the National Turkey Federation. "Un-American is a word I often use."

Stacy Kinder, a local resident who was buying her second turkey on Tuesday, offered an undoubtedly more common response.

"Good luck," she said. "They're never going to get people to stop eating turkey on Thanksgiving."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

FAST FACTS

*Turkey production in the United States has more than doubled since 1970.

*In 2001, growers raised 272 million turkeys.

*Missouri is among America's top turkey-producing states behind Minnesota, North Carolina and Arkansas.

*White meat generally is preferred in the United States, while other countries choose dark.

*A 15-pound turkey typically has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.