The Reality Behind Trump’s Wild Claims About Turkey Prices

And such small portions! The Farm Bureau I would like you to know that turkey represents a decreasing share of the cost of Thanksgiving dinner, as the cost of side dishes increases more quickly. This year, according to the Farm Bureau, a 16-pound frozen turkey represents just 39 percent of the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people, the lowest serving size since 2000. Considering that families increasingly prefer pork or beef for Thanksgiving dinner, and thus at many tables there is No 16 pound frozen turkey, this percentage is even lower.

I myself love turkey all year round, usually on a sandwich with Swiss cheese and, if possible, a little chopped liver. I’m going to cook one for Thanksgiving, and I better finish that because I need to dry the brine.

But before you go, know that serious historians don’t believe the Pilgrims ate turkey on the first Thanksgiving. The menu consisted of venison, waterfowl, and, more than likely, eels, and the purpose of the meal was not to affirm multicultural brotherhood but to allow European settlers to cement a military alliance with the Wampanoag tribe against the Wampanoag’s traditional enemy, the Naragansett tribe. Eventually, the Pilgrims began breaking their promises to the Wampanoag (big surprise), and the Wampanoag and Naragansett joined forces against them. King Philip, son of Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief who had accompanied the Pilgrims on this first feast, led the combined forces in what became known as King Philip’s War. It lasted three years and was extremely bloody. In the end, the Europeans won and King Philip had his head cut off and placed atop a pike at Plymouth Plantation. But that’s not a good story to tell in the middle of a big dinner.