Gobble, gobble!

Turkey Day is coming up fast, and it left me wondering, how many Groves students eat turkey on Thanksgiving? Stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac and cheese, and pumpkin pie have always been classic Thanksgiving foods, but turkey has been the centerpiece from the start of the holiday. Times have changed since the 1600s, and the 21st century has brought many new ideas to the world since then. This got me thinking, if nearly 90% of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, how many Groves students sill eat turkey on Thanksgiving?

There are many possible replacements for turkey nowadays, such as chicken or a vegetarian option. To get the most possible data, I sent out a Google form to several Groves students asking if they ate turkey for Thanksgiving, and if they didn’t, what they ate instead. I wanted to know if students ate specific replacements for turkey, but the results were a bit different from what I expected. With a majority, 88% of students said they still ate turkey on Thanksgiving. I found this shocking, as I thought more people would have started new traditions. Of the 12% that didn’t eat turkey, most of them still ate other classic Thanksgiving foods such as mashed potatoes and pies. However, they had no specific replacement for turkey— they ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, just without the turkey. This surprised me, because my family celebrates Thanksgiving without indulging in a turkey, and I thought this was common for more Groves households. However, my data proved different, and for a lot of people, the turkey makes Thanksgiving.