Turkey shortages impacting Rhode Island families
EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (WLNE) – Turkeys may be hard to come by in Rhode Island and across the nation this Thanksgiving.
Patrick McNiff of Pat’s Pastured has officially sold out of turkeys for the holiday with over 500 orders in and not a single turkey to spare. It’s the same story at many local farms. Several owners told ABC 6 News they sold out quicker than ever this year.
“It’s a bustling day. We are really busy for the next week getting turkeys out to people, taking orders, changing orders, everything,” McNiff said. “We sold out earlier this year than we would’ve in the past. I think meat in general in the country; there’s been such a shortage throughout COVID and a lot of people are looking for local sources.”
Over 60% of turkeys nationwide are already out of stock. That shortage is sending many people to local farms rather than grocery stores, but even farms are feeling the impact. McNiff says staffing and supply chain issues are huge obstacles.
“Feed is a big one for us and costs. And even getting turkeys, so little baby turkeys, day-old turkeys,” McNiff said. “All the things it takes to get the turkey to your plate have been affected by the supply chain.”
It even ripples down to local food pantries at a time when the need for food assistance is greater than ever. Andrew Schiff, CEO of the Rhode Island Food Bank says they have 150 partner sites getting ready to serve over 50,000 Rhode Islanders this Thanksgiving.
“The demand for food is higher, so overall, we need more food,” Schiff said. “Also, the supply chain has been very difficult for some of our donors, supermarkets, and food industries, so we’re getting less food donated.”
That means the food bank is depending on dollars that people donate to feed families. Even that has its obstacles as prices are up from last year.
“At least a third of the food that we’re distributing we purchase. We purchase in very, very large volumes, truckloads of food,” Schiff said. “Those truckloads of food are more expensive than ever.”
