Posted on 11/18/2013 7:31:42 AM PST by US Navy Vet
The nation's largest producer of turkeys is warning of a shortage of birds, just in time for Thanksgiving.
Butterball announced that it will be shipping out half as many large, fresh never-frozen turkeys to retailers this year. The company says many of its birds had trouble gaining weight during the production process. And though the cause of the problem remains a mystery, food distributors say their orders for turkeys 16 pounds and bigger have been slashed in half. Sixteen pounds is the national average for Thanksgiving holiday turkeys making this shortage a particularly concerning problem.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Our local independent grocer has frozen turkeys on sale for $.69 per lb. Not sure if all of them are 16 lbs. and up. I bought one last week.
Meat is muscle. And muscle is fed by blood. In the blood is myoglobin, which binds with oxygen and stores it in muscles for when it’s needed. Myoglobin also makes meat dark. Muscles that are used most, like those in drumsticks (legs), have more myoglobin. Domestic turkeys are too fat to fly, so they don’t use their breast muscles much, which is why breast meat is white. The breast of a wild turkey is entirely different, darker (and far tastier for those who are game).
http://www.livescience.com/5911-top-5-surprising-turkey-facts.html
“We just don’t understand! We fed them with Michelle Obama’s dietary guidelines, and yet they all look emaciated, half-starved and lethargic. Maybe we should double the amount of Arugula and bean sprouts we feed them!”
Extremes in environmental temperature would be one of the more prevalent causes. Disease, substandard husbandry practices, deficiency in the feed would be others.
Oh noooooo! Not enough Halal turkeys to go around. I’m crushed. Poor Butterball.
LOL!!!!
Our soon be shut down Scout troop has a family potluck every November. We cook two really large trash can turkeys. (google it) We try to get 19-22 lb birds. We need to do three this year because the biggest we could find was 16lb. Guess one goes in the oven.
This will be the last overnighter for our Boy Scout Troop. We’re switching over to Trail Life USA.
Yes - the key word here is “fresh”....a very minimal percentage of turkeys sold are classified as fresh (versus frozen and defrosted).
Or buy a cheaper brand than Butterball. Problem solved and it is money in your pocket to pay your health insurance.
There’s no shortage of turkies in the US Senate and the White House.
Keeping their girlish figures?
Butterball contains real turkey meat? Who knew!
Turkenol, the ethical Ethanol replacement.
> The company says many of its birds had trouble gaining weight during the production process.
Probably needed Obamacare and just couldn’t get it because of the Republicans. Or maybe it was the Republican shutdown of the government, or the Republican sequestration process. /s
Thanks US Navy Vet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.