By KEITH ROYSDON
kroysdon@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009) MUNCIE — Who wants a turkey the day after Thanksgiving? Nobody.

As Thursday — a day in which we all have the opportunity to gorge ourselves like that guy on Man vs. Food — approaches, local stores still have a good supply of turkeys and all the trimmings, including the Holy Grail of this year’s feast, canned pumpkin pie filling.

Now they just have to sell it all.

At Fisher Meats, owner Greg Fisher estimates he’ll sell as many as 600 fresh and freshly-frozen turkeys at his North Walnut Street store this Thanksgiving season and, with luck, he’ll sell the last one on Wednesday.

“I hope, because come Friday they don’t sell,” Fisher said Monday as, not far away, stood a refrigerated case half-filled with turkeys.

At Lahody Meats, owner Ron Lahody feels good about how many fresh turkeys he’s been able to sell.

“We sold 315,” said Lahody, clad in a long white butcher’s coat. “I’m absolutely shocked. I didn’t think I would sell that many with 57-cent birds at Marsh, but they’re frozen and injected.”

Prices locally compared pretty well to prices around the state as reported in Indiana Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving Day dinner survey.

Nobody’s turkey price topped Marsh’s 57-cent throwdown, which was available to shoppers who spent at least $35. Otherwise, Marsh sold its frozen turkeys for $1.49 a pound.

Indiana Farm Bureau said the average Hoosier price was $1.26 a pound. Locally, Lahody sold fresh turkey for $1.49 a pound and Fisher had prices ranging from 99 cents for frozen to $1.39 for fresh.

In other Muncie stores, frozen turkeys ranged from 99 cents a pound at Aldi to $1.48 at Walmart.

Farm Bureau said the cost of Thanksgiving dinner was $39.66 (or $43.93 including $2.50 in miscellaneous ingredients not itemized plus $1.77 for whipping cream). The group said that total was down from $45.57 last year.

In news that will make many Thanksgiving diners’ hearts leap, a national shortage of canned pumpkin apparently hasn’t reached local store shelves. Although Aldi was out on Monday, both Marsh and Walmart had cans of pumpkin and pre-seasoned pumpkin pie filling on their shelves.

The New York Times and many reputable news sources have reported in the past week that heavy Midwestern rains had decimated pumpkin crops. Libby was among the manufacturers who said shortages could result.

Locally, shoppers pushed their carts past the ample supply of canned pumpkin, oblivious to its rarity.

Contact business editor Keith Roysdon at 213-5828. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/keithroysdon.