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Thanksgiving not same without bird
Fredericksburg Area Food Bank seeks donations of turkeys to meet holiday demand.
Date published: 11/12/2005 By NATASHA ALTAMIRANO By NATASHA ALTAMIRANO Bird flu scare or not, the demand for Thanksgiving turkeys is high. Richard Parsons, national poultry supervisor of market news for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, estimates that 45 million turkeys will be sold for the holiday this year. The Fredericksburg Area Food Bank received some turkey donations during the past week, including 70 from Faith Christian Center World Outreach. Still, the food bank needs more turkeys, said Dayle Reschick, the food bank's resource and development director. "The holidays are on us now," Reschick said. "We're going to be getting in a lot of requests for special foods this time of year. We don't want to see any of these families in need go without it this year." Reschick noted that it's more difficult for donors to get turkeys to the food bank compared with contributions of nonperishable food item. "It does require extra effort on the donors' part, but the people are so thankful when they get them," she said. Fortunately for the food bank, turkeys can have a shelf life of up to 30 days in a good refrigerator, and they can be frozen for even longer, Parsons said. Most grocery stores already are stocked with frozen turkeys, and fresh turkeys will be delivered next week, he said. Grocery stores usually sell them on a first-come, first-served basis. Orders usually are taken only for entire Thanksgiving meals, Parsons said. "Thanksgiving is a premium market for turkeys, of course," he said. "There's a lot of buying right now, but that's typical--the stores are ready for that." Frozen turkeys cost between 39 cents and $1.29 a pound, and fresh turkeys are about $1.49 a pound, the USDA reported Thursday. The average Thanksgiving turkey weighs between 12 and 13 pounds. The Fredericksburg Area Food Bank accepts donations Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its warehouse at 1327 Alum Spring Road. More information is available by calling 540/371-7666 or on the food bank's Web site, fredfood .org. To reach NATASHA ALTAMIRANO:
Date published: 11/12/2005
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