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November 21, 2004

Gobble, gobble

I don't envy The New York Post's Bill Hoffman who obviously drew the short straw to be assigned the task of rewriting a Census Bureau press release about Thanksgiving foodstuffs. But Hoffman's spin, "At the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, revelers are eating less [turkey] and are opting for a greater variety of foods to feast on," isn't even remotely what the stats say. It's true that the number of turkeys raised this year is down four percent from last year, but there's no indication that lower consumption during the holidays has anything to do with that. Or lower consumption at all, really, since the release also says that, "Per capita turkey consumption is virtually the same as in 1990, but 70 percent higher than in 1980." What accounts for the discrepency? I'll wager that turkeys have gotten bigger. Thanks to off-shore nuclear testing.

Posted by Daniel Radosh

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