Agriculture Report - An Unhappy Thanksgiving for Turkey Farmers

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Arkansas	Colony	From	Laurel	President	Special	Thursday	Turkey	as
be	beans	been	birds	feast	in	increasing	nation's	national	not
on	raised	roasted	served	shopping	still	that	the	traditionally

VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report in EnglishThanksgiving Day is a national holiday that Americans celebrate the fourth Thursday in November. This autumn festival is celebrated with family and friends over a big meal takes hours to prepare. The meal usually includes turkey along with dishes like cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green and pumpkin pie. The turkey is usually seasoned and in an oven, but some people fry the bird oil or cook it on a grill. The National Federation estimates that Americans ate 46 million of the during last year's holiday. About two-thirds of the turkeys in America came from six states: Minnesota, North Carolina, , Missouri, Virginia and Indiana. Turkey is eaten all year, just during the holidays. Americans have been consuming an amount of turkey although chicken, beef and pork are more popular. One industry official says 2012 will not as profitable for turkey farmers as past years have . Feed costs are up while turkey prices are about sameThe Pilgrims' feast in 1621 is often considered the first Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims were early settlers of Plymouth in what is now Massachusetts. They held a three-day to celebrate a good harvest. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November a day of thanksgiving. As the Great Depression was ending, Franklin Roosevelt established the holiday on the month's fourth . He did not want to shorten the Christmas holiday season in years when November has a fifth Thursday it did this year. For VOA Learning English, I'm Bowman. (Adapted from a radio program broadcast 20Nov2012)

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