Planning on Pumpkin Pie?

One of America’s staple Thanksgiving foods may not make an appearance on many Thanksgiving menus nor dessert tables this holiday season.

One of America’s staple Thanksgiving foods may not make an appearance on many Thanksgiving menus nor dessert tables this holiday season. The 2009 pumpkin shortage is not just a wives tale or urban legend- it’s true, Americans may not see canned pumpkin in supermarkets in the upcoming weeks, and some markets have already reported empty shelves.

Libby’s, a Nestle USA company and the largest producer of canned pumpkin in the U.S., supplying roughly 85 percent of pumpkin products, released a statement reporting that three months plus of heavy rains in the mid-west saturated fields, making it impossible for tractors and harvesting equipment to pass through. The excess rain water also caused many of the pumpkins to rot and thus Libby’s stopped harvesting and canning. SupermarketGuru.com is glad we didn’t get stuck in the pumpkin field on our Halloween hayride!

Mad about that jack-o-lantern you attempted to carve to scare away trick-or-treaters on Halloween? Maybe if you had been aware of the pumpkin shortage in October you would have thought twice about carving-up such a hot commodity. But nonetheless, if you are out of canned pumpkin, and you know you will never hear the end of it from your holiday dinner guests, Amazon.com seems to have a well stocked stash.

The restocking of canned pumpkin in most supermarkets and other food retailers in the upcoming weeks however, is looking grim as Libby’s last year’s surplus plus this year’s sad harvest can only sustain our fall pumpkin craving for so long. There may be canned pumpkin on the supermarket shelves now, but wait too long and you may experience the shortage as well. If you are already stocked for Thanksgiving, but plan to cook with canned pumpkin in the upcoming months, SupermarketGuru.com recommends you buy what you need now.

If you are out of canned pumpkin and don’t want or have enough time to order online for pre-Thanksgiving delivery, try experimenting with some alternatives like butternut squash, yams, acorn squash, and sweet potatoes.

For those of us who have been waiting for pumpkin pie since last Thanksgiving, and aren’t lucky enough to get our hands on the precious and might I add tasty commodity, try not to focus on the empty pie crust sitting on your kitchen counter, but do focus on all of the other wonderful things in your life you have to be thankful for.

With or without pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving will still be a culinary treat, so eat up and enjoy!