Turkeys face competition at Thanksgiving

NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Turkey may be a U.S. Thanksgiving tradition but not everyone in the country will be serving it for dinner Thursday, the National Turkey Federation says.

The group says last year 12 percent of Americans had an alternative meal with 88 percent eating turkey, The Christian Science Monitor reported Wednesday.

The competition for the Thanksgiving table this year ranges from Maine lobster to a vegetarian substitute called Tofurkeys, a major player in the meat-alternative industry.

Sales of Tofurkeys exceeded $586 million during the past 12 months, not counting national chain Whole Foods which doesn't provide data on their sales, the newspaper says.

This year Julia Munsey of Bangor, Maine, said she plans to serve lobster for Thanksgiving to help the state's depressed fishing industry.

Other alternatives include Cornish game hens, roast beef and lamb.

One ethnic supermarket in Boston, CMart, doesn't even sell turkeys.

"Chinese people don't buy turkey. They don't know how to cook it," employee Alvin Qu told the Monitor.