In the fall of 1621, the religious separatist Pilgrims held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many regard as the nation’s first Thanksgiving. It eventually became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional fifth Thursday.

Weighing in With a Menu of Culinary Delights

272 million is the preliminary estimate of turkeys raised in the United States in 2007. That’s up 4 percent from 2006. The turkeys produced in 2005 together weighed 7.2 billion pounds and were valued at $3.2 billion.

46 million is the preliminary estimate of turkeys Minnesota expects to raise in 2007. The Gopher State is tops in turkey production. It is followed by North Carolina (39 million), Arkansas (31 million), Virginia (21.5 million), Missouri (21 million) and California (16.8 million). These six states together will probably account for about two-thirds of U.S. turkeys produced in 2007.

690 million pounds is the forecast for U.S. cranberry production in 2007, essentially unchanged from 2006 and 11 percent more than 2005. Wisconsin is expected to lead all states in the production of cranberries, with 390 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (180 million). New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are also expected to have substantial production, ranging from 18 million to 52 million pounds.

1.6 billion pounds is the total weight of sweet potatoes — another popular Thanksgiving side dish — produced by major sweet potato producing states in 2006. North Carolina (702 million pounds) produced more sweet potatoes than any other state. It was followed by California (381 million pounds). Mississippi and Louisiana also produced large amounts: at least 200 million pounds each.

1 billion pounds is the total pumpkin production of major pumpkin-producing states in 2006. Illinois led the country by producing 492 million pounds of the vined orange gourd. Pumpkin patches in California, Ohio and Pennsylvania also provided plenty of pumpkins: Each state produced at least 100 million pounds. The value of all the pumpkins produced by major pumpkin-producing states was $101 million.

If you prefer cherry pie, you will be pleased to learn that the nation’s forecasted tart cherry production for 2007 totals 294 million pounds. Of this total, the overwhelming majority (230 million) will be produced in Michigan.

1.8 billion bushels is the total volume of wheat — the essential ingredient of bread, rolls and pie crust — produced in the United States in 2006. Kansas and North Dakota accounted for 30 percent of the nation’s wheat production.

841,280 tons is the 2007 contracted production of snap (green) beans in major snap (green) bean-producing states. Of this total, Wisconsin led all states (310,200 tons). Many Americans consider green bean casserole a traditional Thanksgiving dish.

$9.5 million is the value of U.S. imports of live turkeys during the first half of 2007 — 99.5 percent from Canada. USA’s northern neighbour accounted for all of the cranberries the United States imported ($2.2 million). When it comes to sweet potatoes, however, the Dominican Republic was the source of 63 percent ($1.7 million) of total imports ($2.7 million). The United States ran a $4.9 million trade deficit in live turkeys during the period but had surpluses of $9.4 million in cranberries and $15.3 million in sweet potatoes.

The Turkey Industry

$3.6 billion is the value of turkeys shipped in 2002. Arkansas led the way in turkey shipments, with $581.5 million, followed by Virginia and North Carolina. In 2002, poultry businesses whose primary product was turkey totalled 35 establishments, employing about 17,000 people.

$3.86 billion is the 2007 forecast of receipts to farmers from turkey sales. This exceeds the total receipts from sales of products such as rice, peanuts and tobacco.

The Price is Right. 99 cents is the cost per pound of a frozen whole turkey in December 2006.

The Balearic islands are to freeze all construction along the most delicate parts of coastlines and around the islands’ capitals in according to a report from the Guardian. The plan will come into force immediately in an effort to save some of the most beautiful coastlines on the islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca, from further development.

Although the full details of the plan have not yet been announced, it is understood that it will place a moratorium on development in one of Mallorca’s largest untouched bays, and in urban marshlands in Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca, where construction work was set to begin. Rural land around the newly constructed Son Espases hospital in Palma, located near a medieval monastery, will also be saved.

During this moratorium the parliament of the Balearic islands will redefine these areas as protected land, meaning that they cannot be built on in the future. There will also be parallel compensation negotiations with landowners and property developers.

A British man, Richie Trezise, who moved to New Zealand has been told by officials that his wife is too fat to join him according to a report from the Daily Telegraph. His wife, Rowan, 33, a photographer, has been battling for months to shed the pounds so they can be reunited and live Down Under but has so far been unable to overcome New Zealand’s weight regulations.

Mr Trezise, who moved to Auckland in September after shedding two inches from his waist on a crash diet, said that if his wife was not allowed to come out by Christmas they would abandon the idea of emigrating.

His employer-backed skills visa was initially rejected by immigration officials when they discovered that his body mass index, or BMI, was 42, making him morbidly obese under New Zealand regulations.

BMI measures a person’s weight in relation to their height. Anything over 25 is regarded as overweight, and 30 or above is obese.

Mr Trezise, a submarine cable specialist and a former soldier, said: “My doctor laughed at me. He said he’d never seen anything more ridiculous in his whole life. He said not every overweight person is unhealthy or unfit.

“The idea was that we were going to change our lifestyle totally and get outdoors and on mountain bikes and all sorts of activities.”

The couple, who both lived in Barry, Wales, were all set for a new life after Mr Trezise was headhunted by New Zealand’s Telecom.

New Zealand is critically short of skilled workers, and many large firms are intensively recruiting in Britain.

Mr Trezise was recruited to supervise the Southern Cross Cable, which links New Zealand with Australia and the west coast of the United States. He is one of only four highly qualified specialist technicians working on the improvement of the cable.

The New Zealand Immigration Service said it did not know how many people were denied entry to the country because of high BMI readings.

However, comments posted on the Emigrate New Zealand website reveal that many people have been turned down after medical tests revealed that they were obese.

Mr Trezise has private health care in New Zealand and his employer, Telecom, has a gym membership scheme.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest 591,000 people migrated to the UK in 2006 while some 400,000 people moved overseas. The figures ONS figures show that because so many people emigrated the rate of population growth in the UK has been the lowest for three years.

Just over half of those leaving were British according to the report. The figures show that the pattern of long-term massive movements of people in and out of the UK appear to be continuing.

On emigration, the ONS said 41,000 more people had left the UK in 2006 than in the previous year. Of those, 185,000 were British. Some 15,000 of those leaving the UK after living here for at least one year were people from the eight Eastern European nations to have joined the EU in 2004.

However, immigration flows also continued to break records. Some 591,000 people from around the world came to live in the UK for at least a year in 2006 - up from 563,000 in 2005.

Just over 80,000 of these were people were British citizens who had been living abroad. Of the remaining, 167,000 were from inside the European Union, and 201,000 from Commonwealth nations.

The ONS figures suggest that overall 191,000 more people came to live in the UK than left in 2006 - down from 204,000 in 2005 and 244,000 in 2004.

The most popular destinations for the British citizens who were leaving were Australia and New Zealand, Spain, France and the US.

Quotable Value has released October’s figures for New Zealand’s housing market. The average price of a house in New Zealand has risen to $406,176 (£147,700) from August’s $404,089 (£146,941). New Zealand’s average house prices are not directly comparable with the UK’s because, unlike the UK, the average home in New Zealand is a detached bungalow.

QV spokesperson Blue Hancock said:

“Purchasers are being careful and taking a longer time to buy property. Developers and investors are also acting cautiously and seem willing to wait for further market signs to appear. Activity is patchy across a number of regions including the main urban centres.”

House Prices in New Zealand
Three Months Ending October 2007

* Assumed exchange rate is £1 = NZ$2.75

Figures released by Statistics New Zealand showed the New Zealand resident population increased by 42,700 (1 per cent) in the year ended September 2007, to an estimated 4,239,300.

The rate of increase was slightly down on the September 2006 year, when the population increased by 50,700 (1.2 per cent). Population growth during the latest period was mainly due to natural increase (an excess of births over deaths) of 34,400.

The natural increase was greater than in the previous year because of a higher birth rate.

Permanent and long-term arrivals exceeded departures by 8300 in the latest year, down from a net migration gain of 13,200 in the September 2006 year.

At September 30, the median age for males was 35.3 years and for females 36.9 years, increases of 2.8 years and 2.9 years respectively since 1997.

The rate of population growth was highest in the 65 years and over age group, at 2.9 per cent, followed by a 1 per cent increase for the 15-64 year age group.

The number of children (aged under 15) remained about the same as last year.

Canadian resale housing activity edged back in the third quarter of 2007 from its peak in the second quarter but remains very strong, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Sales activity totalled 129,451 units in the third quarter of 2007, a 3.2 per cent decline from the record set in the second quarter. The quarterly decline in activity reflects fewer sales in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. Fewer transactions in those provinces more than offset a quarterly increase in activity in British Columbia.

Sales set new quarterly records in Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador in the third quarter of 2007. In line with Canadian resale activity, sales reached their second highest quarterly level ever in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

A total of 41,390 homes traded hands in Canada in September, a 3.7 per cent decline from August. Activity was down from August levels in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.

The Canadian residential average price rose 11.7 per cent year-over-year in the third quarter to $308,543. Average price reached the highest quarterly level on record in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Average House Price In Canada
September 2007

Research from NatWest Bank has revealed that holidays designed to give Brits a relaxing break from their busy working lives can actual cause more stress according to homesworldwide. Millions of Brits returning home exhausted by efforts of organising a holiday, finding accommodation, and dealing with the cost of the holiday.

As a result, the bank states that three in ten people are considering buying a property abroad, and a quarter of them are doing so just to avoid the stresses and strains of the annual family holiday.

According to the Office for National Statistics, more than a quarter of a million Brits currently own a foreign property, meaning the trauma and cost of holiday arrangements could become a thing of the past.

Indeed, a third of current and potential overseas homeowners believe that owning a holiday home will make family breaks more affordable and a quarter feel it would reduce the sheer stress of arranging holidays.

This is particularly true in countries where holiday homes are already an important part of the property market, such as Spain, as it means that developers and estate agents are used to dealing with British investors.

Mike Freer, Head of Business Development at NatWest International Personal Banking, says, “Holidays should be fun and relaxing but sadly this isn’t always the case. The hassle and expense of arranging holidays can be hugely traumatic - from deciding where to go and remembering to pack everything but the kitchen sink, yet keeping under the new airline luggage weight restrictions. And the holiday itself can be spoiled by poor accommodation, meaning that Brits end up needing another holiday when they return!”

However, as three in every ten people plan to return to the same destination each year, it makes sense to consider buying a property there.

Mike Freer says, “Buying a holiday home abroad is increasingly becoming the norm for British families. Spain continues to top the tables as the most popular overseas hotspot. While the upfront purchase cost is a huge financial commitment, the long-term benefits of holiday homes can be fantastic as they provide great investment potential, a wonderful lifestyle and a permanent escape from the hassle and expense of holiday arrangements. A holiday home can literally pay for itself.”

Employment in Canada continued to rise in October, jumping an estimated 63,000, split between full and part time. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to a 33-year low of 5.8 percent, down 0.1 of a percentage point from September. Canadian employment has increased 2.1 percent (+346,000) so far in 2007, the strongest January-to-October growth in the past five years. October’s employment rate reached an all-time high of 63.7 percent.

October’s employment increase was in the service sector, most notably in health care and social assistance, “other services”, and public administration. However, this strength was tempered by losses in business, building and other support services, as well as accommodation and food services.

Wage pressure continued to build in October, with the year-over-year increase in average hourly wages estimated at 4.1 percent, still well above the most recent year-over-year Consumer Price Index increase of 2.5 percent.

Of all industries, health care and social assistance posted the strongest estimated employment growth in October. There was also an increase in “other services”, an industry that covers a variety of activities, such as dry cleaning and laundry services, electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance, as well as grant-making and giving services. As well, public administration added an estimated 20,000 workers in October, all in Ontario.

In contrast to the growth in the service sector, there has been overall weakness in the goods-producing industries, where employment has edged down since the start of the year. So far in 2007, significant losses in manufacturing have been almost completely offset by robust gains in construction and utilities. In October, utilities were the only industry in the goods-producing sector to show signs of strength. Utilities include electric power generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, and water supply and sewage systems.

Ontario
After slow growth throughout most of 2007, employment grew strongly in Ontario for the second consecutive month, up 32,000 in October, mainly in part time. So far in 2007, employment in Ontario has risen an estimated 1.7 percent, still below the national average of 2.1 percent.

October’s employment growth in Ontario was mainly in public administration and “other services”. The growth in public administration was due, in part, to the provincial election, which coincided with the Labour Force Survey reference week.

Quebec
Quebec’s unemployment rate in October remained at 6.9 percent, the lowest level in 33 years. So far in 2007, employment has grown 2.2 percent, spurred on by gains in construction, accommodation and food services, and “other services”. These gains have pushed the employment rate up, bringing it to a new record high of 61.2 percent in October.

Manitoba
In Manitoba, employment grew 0.6 percent in October, bringing the increase since the start of 2007 to 2.5 percent. In October, Manitoba’s employment rate reached an all-time high of 66.8 percent. The province also had the second lowest unemployment rate in Canada (4.0 percent).

British Columbia
Although employment in British Columbia showed little change in October, it has grown 2.4 percent since the start of 2007, mainly due to strong growth in trade. In October, the unemployment rate in the province stood at 4.4 percent, among the lowest rates in Canada.

Alberta
Alberta’s employment was little changed in October. However, the province continued to have the lowest unemployment rate in the country, at 3.4 percent, as well as Canada’s highest employment rate (71.5 percent).

Nova Scotia
In Nova Scotia, October’s employment increase (+5,300) was mainly attributable to full-time work. For the first 10 months of 2007, employment has grown mainly in information, culture and recreation, in health care and social assistance, and in professional, scientific and technical services.

Older workers lead the way
Employment increased by 32,000 among people 55 and over, with the gains distributed equally between men and women. The participation rate in October for Canadians aged 55 and over reached an all-time high of 33.8 percent. This was due in large part to older women, who in October had their highest employment and participation rates in at least three decades.

Spain’s sunny climate and welcoming people has attracted more immigrants than any other country in Europe according to homesworldwide.com. With high levels of British people relocating to Spain annually, it’s not surprising that the country’s appeal has resulted in it being the European country with the most immigrants.

Foreign residents now comprise almost ten per cent of the total population, adding up to 4.48 million out of a total of 14.12 million people. The ratio is now higher than France, Germany or Britain. The figures also show that seven out of every ten people who move to Spain fall in love with the country so much that they decide to stay.

“There are obvious reasons why Spain is so popular,” says Ian Smith, head of European operations for Halifax. “The climate is ideal, the country openly welcomes English speakers and the emergence of low-cost flights has made travelling to Spain so cheap.”

The influx of newcomers to the country has also contributed to Spain’s consistently improving economy, with immigrants estimated to account for 4.5 per cent of the GDP.

While retirees often do this by employing local builders and paying for other services, younger expats boost an area’s revenue by opening new businesses and creating competition. In addition they have also contributed to a recovery in Spain’s diminishing birth rate.

The Etnia publishing group, who presents the annual immigration study, predicts that, by 2025, 30 per cent of Spain’s residents will either have been born elsewhere, or will be the children of immigrants, leading to an increasingly multicultural population.