Small Turkeys Are In Demand As Americans Downsize At Thanksgiving

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Broad Breasted White turkeys roam their open-air enclosure on the Shenk Family Farm in Newport, N.C. Smaller turkeys are in demand this Thanksgiving as many families plan on staying home rather than attending large gatherings.

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Rachel Shenk, right, and her 3-year-old son, Mason Shenk, step into the turkey enclosure on their family farm in Newport, N.C. Rachel and her husband Joe Shenk started their farm in 2017 with a desire to create a life that allowed them to focus on working together as a family. They now farm turkeys, chickens, and pigs.

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«You have to have turkey on Thanksgiving,» said Nash, so she got a small turkey breast — a far cry from the nearly 20-lb turkey they might have in Houston.

Celebrating with just immediate family

She’s not the only one downsizing.

Butterball, the company that produces Butterball turkeys, surveyed about 1,000 adults in September. They found that 30% plan to celebrate with just their immediate family. Kyle Lock, the senior director of marketing for Butterball, said that’s about twice as many as in a typical year.

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Broad Breasted White turkeys roam their open-air enclosure on the Shenk Family Farm in Newport, N.C. This year all of the approximately 70 turkeys, which will be 14-16 lbs once they are processed, have been reserved for Thanksgiving.

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Madeline Gray for NPR

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Joe Shenk holds a turkey for his son, Mason, to pet in the open-air enclosure on their farm. «They’re not very smart, but they make up for that by being really friendly and interesting,» Shenk said about the turkeys.

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Joe and Rachel Shenk hope to add cows in the near future as they continue to farm full-time in Newport, N.C.

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Joe and Rachel Shenk hope to add cows in the near future as they continue to farm full-time in Newport, N.C.

Madeline Gray for NPR

Instead, he said the company pivoted away from restaurants and seized another opportunity.

«What happened is during the panic, in the rush to buy meat and poultry in the grocery stores, a lot of the grocery store shelves were bare for a while, so we increased our direct to consumer,» Joyce said.

The average local household has helped them improve sales for the holidays.

Rachel and Joe Shenk are doing well this holiday season. They’re sold out for turkeys this year, which didn’t even happen last year. And for those customers who requested a smaller bird, the Shenks are helping them get creative.

«I have to go back and be like, ‘Well, would you be OK with a half turkey?’ » Rachel said.

She’s found most of her customers are content with that even though anything less than a whole turkey is not what most people picture on their Thanksgiving table.

It’s certainly not the weirdest thing about 2020.

Emma Peaslee is NPR’s KROC Fellow.

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