COVID-19 causing families to change their holiday meal plans

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - With coronavirus numbers surging across the country, many families are changing their plans and their usual holiday staples. That includes many families switching from a big bird to a smaller turkey.

At the Market at 25th, customers have been shopping for Thanksgiving since the beginning of November.

“Normally it starts that weekend before Thanksgiving,” said Shaaron Atkins-Comfort, Market at 25th, Assistant Store Director.

Atkins-Comfort says COVID has changed a lot at the store; the store is now offering an array of sizes of turkeys and many customers are choosing the smaller turkeys.

“The hot seller is the smaller turkey,” she said.

You might also see a lower bill at the store; the American Farm Bureau says Thanksgiving dinner costs are down by about 4% and are at the lowest price they’ve seen in a decade. If you look at the price of turkeys, the American Farm Bureau says the average turkey is costing $1.21 a pound, which is down 7% from last year. But with plans changing, many are opting out of using a bird at all.

“They’re taking the opportunity to do something maybe different outside of a turkey, maybe a seafood Thanksgiving or maybe even doing a potluck, where people serve the food and drop it off,” she said.

Copyright 2020 WWBT. All rights reserved.

Submit a news tip.