- A man in Crawfordville has been cooking up Thanksgiving meals for the last 12 years.
- He said inflation has had an impact on the tradition.
- Watch the video to see how he serves his community one turkey or ham at a time.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Paul Gawde and his wife have owned Food N Fill in Crawfordville for 12 years. They've made preparing Turkey and hams for people to pick up a Thanksgiving a tradition.
Driving around Crawfordville I stumbled on Gawde cooking turkeys. When I asked him what's his motivation of doing this he said, “basically we're trying to take the stress out if their day, because it is a big day for them and people are so stressed about cooking."
He tells me they prepared over 50 turkeys this year. Gawde said he likes the idea of cooking every day, not just during the holidays
According to Nerd Wallet 37 percent of Americans said they purchase from small businesses to receive a more personal experience. It also said customers hope to avoid stress which is something Gawde agrees with.
"I just love doing the turkeys and I've been doing it for the last 12 years."
Nerd Wallet conducted a survey they found that 40 percent of customers who shop at small businesses said they've noticed higher prices. I spoke to a customer picking up a ham for Thanksgiving dinner who's noticed higher prices due to inflation.
"Yeah, it's outrageous the prices and all. Yeah, it ain't just food and all of that. It's gas and everything it's skyrocketing."
He found an inexpensive, and convenient option. "Yeah, it's a little bit easier, because you got all the other stuff you have to do."
Gawde told me he had to increase prices by 20 percent, but it hasn't stopped people from ordering meats for the holidays.
"But it's a big day and one day people don't mind splurging" Gawde told me they work hard to prepare the meats so they can be a good holiday staple for their customers. "They know the quality."
The Gawdes said they'll continue to do this annually.
