14.nov.06
Associated Press
Libby Quaid
WASHINGTON -- Schools that get turkey from the Agriculture Department are, according to this story, having to turn elsewhere this year for Thanksgiving lunches for students because there is not enough for the lunch program that feeds 29 million kids.
The problem is not a shortage of birds but that they're just too skinny after an unusually hot summer resulted in smaller turkeys.
Billy Cox, spokesman for the Agricultural Marketing Service, was quoted as saying, "Even though we've put out word we want to buy turkey, they're not selling it to USDA."
Supermarkets generally get first dibs on turkey and other commodities. When there is a surplus or prices are low enough, the Agriculture Department buys some and passes it along to government-subsidized food programs, like school lunches.
While the department is not providing turkey, schools aren't necessarily going without.