美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why turkey prices are at record highs for this Thanksgiving Day

Why turkey prices are at record highs for this Thanksgiving Day

Transcript¹

Thanksgiving is next week and turkey prices are at record highs. There are multiple reasons for that.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Turkey is selling at record prices this year. The reasons read like an account of biblical plagues, pestilence², drought, war. But it's the grocers that will be eating a lot of the increase in turkey prices. That's because, as Frank Morris with member station KCUR reports turkey is the last thing stores want to be expensive at Thanksgiving.

FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE³: If you're a turkey on a farm in the United States, your days are numbered.

(SOUNDBITE OF TURKEYS GOBBLING)

MORRIS: But the thousand white birds fanned out on this green, rolling pasture in central Missouri are kind of lucky they made it this far.

NICK HEISLER: And, you know, this has been a really tough year for turkeys, probably one of the toughest, as far as keeping a turkey healthy and also alive.

MORRIS: Nick Heisler (ph) works for Buttonwood Farm, a regional turkey and chicken producer. He says avian flu has taken out more than 6 million turkeys this year. And he says feeding these survivors⁴ costs almost twice as much as last year. Drought in the U.S. and war in Ukraine have pushed up grain prices. Diesel⁵ fuel is also about double. And it turns out producing turkeys takes a lot of diesel.

HEISLER: Hauling birds. Hauling grain. Taking birds to the processor.

MORRIS: So turkeys aren't quite as plentiful⁶. And everything about producing them costs more, which, of course, shows up in the price of turkey. Tom Windish, an executive at Cargill, runs the country's third-largest turkey-growing and processing operation.

TOM WINDISH: Yeah, my turkey team (laughter).

MORRIS: Windish says the price of turkey breast has more than doubled this year. Turkey breast from tom turkeys, of course, sells all year. But smaller hens, the ones mostly turned into whole frozen turkeys, live and die for just one day, Thanksgiving.

WINDISH: And we work all year to get the packaging and the production time put away for this mass exodus⁷ out of our cold storages that is happening right now.

MORRIS: Windish says he expects those birds hitting grocery store freezers now to sell fast, despite costing at least 17% more than last year. But at this Sun Fresh grocery store in Kansas City, shoppers are weighing their options.

MARVEL⁸ WILSON: We're going to have something, but it won't be turkey (laughter).

MORRIS: Marvel Wilson (ph) leans heavily on a half-full cart, eyeing frozen birds, and says turkey is too high.

WILSON: We're already paying more for your groceries.

MORRIS: But the grocery store is one link in the turkey supply chain where the price doesn't rise, at least not much. Frozen birds at this store costs shoppers 2 cents a pound more than they do the store, according to the store manager, Elexa Pierson. But even she considered skipping turkey this year.

ELEXA PIERSON: And I was almost thinking to myself, like, is it worth it to get a turkey, I mean, just for, like, a bird? Like, I don't know. But, hey, I mean, I'm going to do it because it's the Thanksgiving meal, but a bird.

MORRIS: The bird isn't supposed to give you pause. It's supposed to get you into the store. Emily Moquin, food and beverage⁹ analyst¹⁰ at Morning Consult, says turkey is the classic loss leader for grocers.

EMILY MOQUIN: You know, they might not make any margin¹¹ or profit on selling a turkey. But if they get a shopper to come buy the rest of their feast items and ingredients there, then it might still be, you know, worth it.

MORRIS: Moquin says that most shoppers she's surveyed say turkey is non-negotiable. Most expect to get their bird on sale or switch to a store brand. A lot of them are just buying less food in general. But come Thanksgiving, most plan to be eating turkey even if they have to skimp¹² on the stuffing.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris in Kansas City.

(SOUNDBITE OF THELONIOUS MONK'S "STUFFY TURKEY")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 pestilence   

n.瘟疫

参考例句：

• They were crazed by the famine and pestilence of that bitter winter.他们因那年严冬的饥饿与瘟疫而折磨得发狂。
• A pestilence was raging in that area. 瘟疫正在那一地区流行。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

6 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

7 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

8 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

9 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

12 skimp   

v.节省花费，吝啬

参考例句：

• She had to skimp to send her son to college.她必须节俭来供她儿子上大学。
• Older people shouldn't skimp on food or heating.老年人不应过分吝惜食物或取暖方面的开销。