The Learnings From Thanksgiving 2020

Phil Lempert is a television and radio news reporter, newspaper columnist, author, consumerologist, and food marketing expert. For more than 25 years, Lempert, an expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends, new products, and the changing retail landscape, has identified and explained impending trends to consumers and some of the most prestigious companies worldwide. Known as The Supermarket Guru®, Lempert is a distinguished author and speaker who alerts customers and business leaders to impending corporate and consumer trends, and empowers them to make educated purchasing and marketing decisions.

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TRANSCRIPT:

All of us at The Lempert Report and SupermarketGuru.com hope you and your families had a great Thanksgiving.

Here is what we learned: People got on planes. People had larger Thanksgiving gatherings than what was advised. People spent more money buying things online. And more people turned to food banks to feed their families.

What I don’t comprehend is the why?

Watching the news programs showing crowded airports, may be good for the airlines, but we will likely see a spike in COVID cases over the next couple weeks. Was it worth it? I know we are all under pressure. Psychologically and well as physically. We want to be with friends and family.

We want to hug them. We want to laugh – and sometimes cry together. We are constantly reminded of the turmoil in Washington and many of us have just had enough. It’s painful to watch the news, I know. But the reality is that now more than ever, as the COVID crisis escalates we need to be stronger than we have been since March.

Researchers at Northwestern University estimate that food insecurity rates have more than doubled now impacting as much as 23% of US households so far this year.

The Brookings Institute reports that 14 million of our children aren’t getting enough to eat.

Our food banks, and Feeding America, have many challenges. Not only did they have to rethink the way they distribute food to be contactless and totally outside, they have seen donations from supermarkets and CPG companies decline as both struggle to keep the grocery shelves stocked. They also have a people problem. Many volunteers at our food banks pre COVID were retirees, those same people who are being advised to stay home to stay safe due to their above average risk of contracting the virus.

As we approach the Christmas, Chanukah, Quanza and New Year’s celebrations – every indicator that I see points to the same situations we just witnessed over this past few days. Let’s be smart. Cities, including here in Los Angeles, have resumed shutdowns for good reasons. The case rates are increasing and no doubt we are all restless. Its time for us to be calm, it’s time for us to care about our neighbors, friends and families. The economy will be fine if we just stay home and be with our immediate family. When 9-11 occurred we were all on our best behavior, and then as the months past we got lazy and started fighting about the overhead storage space on planes again. When the pandemic first broke out we were on good behavior, we stayed home, we worked from home, we baked, our kids studied at home, and once again after a few months we became restless and lazy – and we see the results on the nightly news.

Let’s be strong, and over the next few weeks especially during the holidays, lets celebrate our lives what we have and not have a repeat of what should have been a holiday celebrating giving thanks – and instead being a holiday where we decided to break all the rules.