Thanksgiving is often cast as a holiday of unity, but it has also become a microcosm of the country’s fractures.
What winds up being served for Thanksgiving dinner, who shows up — or doesn’t — and whether politics gets mentioned, can reflect broader shifts in ideology and culture. Simultaneously, Thanksgiving is still intended to bridge divides and emphasize the magnificence of the great American experiment launched centuries ago.
One example of this is the food Americans choose to eat on Thanksgiving and how they make it.
6 CLASSIC THANKSGIVING SIDE DISHES THAT HAVE DISAPPEARED FROM AMERICAN TABLES
Take-out and dine-in options have become more widely adopted in contemporary Thanksgiving celebrations, with research from restaurant software company Popmenu finding a 42% increase from 2024 in the number of folks who plan to order from, or dine-in at, a restaurant on Thanksgiving. Costs were a primary reason for the shift, along with wanting to spend more time with family and not worry about cooking.
The length of time spent at the dinner table can also be quite telling.
In 2018, university researchers analyzed smartphone location data pings and determined that “politically diverse” Thanksgiving dinners tended to be significantly shorter than those dinners involving a family of entirely like-minded individuals. The study, conducted in 2018, showed the average dinner was 30 minutes to 50 minutes shorter at tables full of politically diverse folks, while a study measuring the same thing in 2020 found politically diverse dinners to be about 24 minutes shorter on average.
Meanwhile, other Thanksgiving survey data from 2025, published by YouGov, found that 19% of Democrats expect to have political arguments at the dinner table, compared to 9% of Republicans.
It is hard to say overall whether Thanksgiving diners have gotten longer or shorter, but according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, people typically spend around 128 minutes on meal preparation and cleanup, 89 minutes on eating and drinking, and about 148 minutes socializing, according to a long-term analysis conducted between 2003 and 2015.
According to the National Turkey Federation, 94% of Americans plan to celebrate Thanksgiving.
The group added that 87% of those who celebrate say turkey is part of their holiday tradition, with 74% planning to serve an entire bird.
However, simultaneously, other findings from turkey producer Jennie-O indicated that there is a growing openness for less traditional Thanksgiving meal options, which the group said shows a “blend of old and new is redefining what Thanksgiving dinner looks like across America.”
The turkey product brand noted that 55% of Americans were “open to trying Thanksgiving recipes from different cultures,” particularly via side dishes.
Even the changing treatment of the turkeys used for the presidential pardon has shifted slightly over the years.
In the early-2000s, turkeys that were presented were sometimes unnamed, or treated more anonymously, but more recently it has become standard to dub the turkeys with names and humanize them a bit. That trend also mirrors a shift toward better care for the pardoned turkeys over the years.
Shifting Thanksgiving traditions reflect broader political, economic and cultural divides 2025 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2025-11-27 15:22:47 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
