It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is almost here. So while you’re planning your turkey dinner and preparing for what is most Americans’second favorite holiday, topped only by Christmas, take a minute to digest these insane facts about the food we fill our plates with on Thanksgiving.
- About 46-million turkeys are eaten around Thanksgiving, according to the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. And with the average turkey sold in supermarkets weighing in at just over 30-pounds, that means Americans are feasting on close to 1.4-billion pounds of turkey for the holiday.
- Americans eat between 2,500 and 4,500 calories at their Thanksgiving dinner. That’s equal to eating between four and eight Big Macs in one sitting.
- Campbell’s makes 40% of its annual sales of cream of mushroom soup ahead of Thanksgiving and most of it goes into the classic green bean casserole. The Washington Post reports that around 20-million Americans serve the side dish with their turkey dinner.
- During Thanksgiving, we consume 80-million pounds of cranberries - enough to fill almost eight Olympic-sized swimming pools.
- People buy nearly 19-million ready-made pies for the holiday, with pumpkin being the top choice.
- And somehow, despite all those extra calories, you probably won’t see the scales tip much after Thanksgiving feasting. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds the average weight gain during the holidays is only eight-tenths of a pound. And that’s something we can all be thankful for.