On Thursday, most Americans will gather around atable with family and friends to give thanks.Traditionally, a turkey is at the center of the tableon Thanksgiving Day.
Turkeys are grown in many areas across the United States. Last year, near 70 percent of thebirds came from one of seven states: they were Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia,Missouri, Indiana and California. And estimated forty-six million turkeys were raised inMinnesota.
The United States Department of Agriculture says 253 million turkeys were raised from January2013 through September. There is a pleasant surprise about the cost of serving a turkey mealthis month.
Each year, the American Farm Bureau Federation prepares a study of the prices and sales offoods served on Thanksgiving. The group says the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal for tenpeople this year is forty-nine dollars and four cents. That is forty-four cents less than last year.
Scott Aronson of Maryland says he had to buy a large turkey because of all the people comingto his home on Thanksgiving day.
"Each year we celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family. This year we will be hosting 16people with a 23 pound turkey."
Some Americans like to purchase their turkey directly from a farm. This can cost more thanbuying one at store. Nicole Roza said it is worth the extra money because Thanksgiving comesjust once a year. Last year, she spent 70 dollars for a 7 kilogram farm turkey. Some peoplemay choose to buy a turkey directly from a farm, because they are told what the turkeys havebeen feed.
Polyface Farm in Virginia Shenandoah Valley, for example, says its turkeys are raised onpasture, that lets the animals eat many kinds of grasses and other bird feed. In addition, theyeat oats, corn and whole roasted soybeans. This year, Polyface Farm has already presold about12 hundred turkeys. The orders come from restaurants, small businesses, farm customers andother buyers.
Many countries have a smaller supply of turkeys than the United States, or perhaps, they havenone of the birds. Turkeys do not grow in some parts of Africa for example. And in other areas,the animals can be very costly. A precooked, ready-to-serve turkey can cost as much as 100dollars in places like Singapore.
周四，大多数美国人将与家人和朋友聚在一起互相送出感谢。感恩节餐桌上的传统食物是火鸡。
全美国多个地区都养殖有火鸡，去年近70%的火鸡来自7个州：明尼苏达州、北卡罗来纳州、阿肯色州、维吉尼亚州、密苏里州、印第安纳州和加利福尼亚州。估计有4600万只火鸡是在明尼苏达州长大的。
美国农业部称2013年1月到9月期间养殖了2.53亿只火鸡，这个月吃火鸡的费用会令人惊喜。
美国农场事务联合会都会对感恩节的食品价格和销售进行研究，该组织称今年一份10人的感恩节食物的平均成本是49美元4美分，比去年少44美分。
马里兰州的斯科特?阿隆森说今年感恩节大家都去他家，他必须买只大火鸡。
“每年我们都和朋友家人一起过感恩节，今年我们要招待16个人，需要一只23磅的火鸡。”
有的美国人喜欢直接从农场买火鸡，这比在商店买要贵些。Nicole Roza说多花些钱是值得的，因为感恩节一年只有一次。去年她花了70美元买了一只7公斤的农场火鸡。有的人可能会直接从农场买火鸡，因为这样就可以知道火鸡是吃什么长大的。
比如，维吉尼亚州谢南多厄河谷的波利弗斯农场称其火鸡是在牧场上长大的，这样火鸡就能吃到多种青草和其他鸟食。另外，它们还吃燕麦、玉米和烘烤大豆。今年该农场已经预售了1200只火鸡，这些订单来自参观、小企业、农场顾客和其他购买者。
许多国家的火鸡供应都比美国少很多，或许根本没有火鸡。比如火鸡不能在非洲部分地区养殖，在其他地区火鸡很贵。比如在新加坡这样的地区，一只烹饪过的火鸡可能高达100美元。
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