Between seeing my family, playing with my cousins’ dogs and eating until I’m in a legitimate turkey coma there’s really no other holiday that tops Thanksgiving for me. Every year, I’m amazed at how much food my family can tuck away in the short span of time we actually spend eating (the rest of the time is either spent preparing the food or talking until our voices give out).
This year, I was especially curious about how my family’s Thanksgiving meal stacks up against America’s overall food stats. Needless to say, the food facts for this particular day of feasting are interesting, but kind of gross when considering how much Americans eat on Thanksgiving Day alone.
The Facts
- About 50 million pumpkin pies are consumed each Thanksgiving (make yours stand out this year by adding a sugar cookie crust!).
Photo by Sharpay Zhang
- A person consumes an average of 3,000 calories at Thanksgiving.
Photo by Naib Mian
- The food with the most calories is none other than our beloved pecan pie.
Photo by Jessica Payne
- Americans consume 736 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving Day alone (about the weight of the Empire State Building).
Photo by Daniel Schuleman
- Turkey doesn’t really make you tired; the tryptophan in the meat doesn’t really take effect because of all the other amino acids present. It’s more likely that all the wine and beer you’re drinking has made you sleepy.
Photo by Melanee Piskai
- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was made with 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon and 2 pounds of pumpkin spice. Anyone care to recreate it this year?
Photo by Holly Birchfield
- 40 million green bean casseroles are made each year (Thank you Campbell’s Soup for your generous contribution to society).
Photo by Joshua Bousel
The Response
Are you kind of grossed out? I am. But don’t think for a minute that I’ll let these facts dissuade me from eating my fill this Thanksgiving. I’ll try and stick to the “everything in moderation” rule, but the way I see it is that Thanksgiving is the one day of the year where you’re supposed to eat too much and just enjoy yourself. So eat to your heart’s content this year and don’t forget to take some snapshots of your favorite foods and post them with #spoonfeed and #IspoonU!
More Thanksgiving goodness to explore: