‘Good Morning America’ Blames Turkey Shortage on Climate Change

(Via Hannity)

NORMAN: “I’m surrounded here by a whole bunch of chatty turkeys at Double Brook Farm here in New Jersey. They’ve got about 2,000 turkeys and they say so far this year the demand has nearly doubled. At the same time the price of feed and labor has gone up. And they think as more people try to get together this year there could be fewer turkeys but they definitely think that the price is likely to go up.”
[Clip starts]
NORMAN (voice-over): “They’re the Thanksgiving centerpiece staple.”
LEBLANC: “But you got to have Turkey on Thanksgiving. I mean, Thanksgiving with no Turkey is like — like Fourth of July with no apple pie, or — or Friday with no two pizzas.” (Laughter)
NORMAN: “But this holiday season the U.S. Department of Agriculture is predicting a slight drop in Turkey production. This quarter expected to dip from 1,451 million pounds of tender Turkey this time last year to 1,420 million. Some farmers are already seeing sales soaring.”
MCCONAUGHY: “We’re seeing sales substantially greater than they were at the same time last year.”
NORMAN: “According to food analysts editor Phil Lempert, this Turkey day you may be paying more and a variety of issues from climate change to the pandemic may be partly to blame.”
LEMPERT: “We have a major shortage of truck drivers so being able to get the birds to the supermarkets are going to be a problem.”
NORMAN: “Experts say your best bet may be to buy from a local Turkey farm, like White Oak Pastures in Georgia, which Jenni Harris says typically sells out of turkeys every year. She like many others are saying to buy now or make plans to cash in.”
HARRIS: “So we’re currently selling vouchers, consumers can reserve a bird which will then they’ll be called in early November to redeem their purchase.”
NORMAN: “Other options —“
HARRIS: “Tell the farmer that you’re completely OK with having them ship it early. Any type of arrangement we can make with consumers to go ahead and ship their Turkey maybe the first week of November when things aren’t quite as hectic.”
[Clip ends]
NORMAN (on camera): “So according to Butterball, frozen Turkey are most of the turkeys that are sold for Thanksgiving. But experts also say another option are fresh turkeys — they don’t like that idea, but time and time again experts tell us, either way, whether you’re for frozen or fresh, order early. Look at these guys.”
KOTB: “They are not happy with you.” [crosstalk]