Thanksgiving Trend Takes You Home

By Cari Martens

It’s not news that spending is down, but the impact on the Thanksgiving holiday means that more people are eating at home for the day than since 1980. According to a report by
IBISWorld, the trend is expected to continue as tough economic conditions strain American budgets.

As part of the economic fall out, the trend is for people to return home for the holiday, literally. Instead of restaurant spending, which had grown every year between 1980 to 2006, now more people are sitting down at the family dining table.

Here are a few other facts that turned up in the survey:

• With around 275 million turkeys raised in 2008 – up 1.1 percent from 2007 – certified organic turkeys account for just over half of total domestic turkey production. Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and California contribute to 64 percent of domestic production.

• In 2008 the U.S. was on track to produce 700 million pounds of cranberries (up 1.5 percent); 1.65 billion pounds of sweet potatoes (up 3 percent); 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins (up from 1 billion); 1.9 bushels of wheat (up 5.5 percent); and 850,000 tons of snap green beans (up 1 percent).

• The total holiday expenditure is down as much as 3 percent, which equates to more than $400 billion, with price the foremost factor when purchasing food, gifts and decorations.

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