Inside the Thanksgiving production complex: A New Perspective.

Are you ready to plunge into the depths of Thanksgiving Tournament Fishing?'

My article this morning tells the story of America's largest privately held company and how they produce so many key ingredients for so many symbolic Thanksgiving dishes.

Cargill produces vegetable oils used to fry potatoes and crisp turkey skin, and is also the largest producer of salt in the country. The company's sugar alternative, Truvia, is used to sweeten pies and after-dinner coffee. Candles on the table can be made from Cargill's vegetable wax. Luckily, they even supply every third turkey at Thanksgiving.

Read about all of Cargill's dominance in' 'holiday and how the rest of the poultry industry is coping, here.

Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful day of reflection and gratitude.

The Fresh Take newsletter will be offline next week as I will be digesting and resting after the holiday. Black Friday is coming up, so check out my gift guide before making your decision, and expect two more Thanksgiving investigations from me next week - about the carrot industry and what some billionaires will be serving on their tables.

- Cloe Sorvino, contributing writer.

This is the Forbes Fresh Take newsletter that brings you the latest news every Friday on the big ideas changing the future of the food industry.

One huge agribusiness company dominates the Thanksgiving Tournament Craft.

Cargill began as a grain warehouse in a rural frontier village in Iowa in 1865, just two years after Abraham Lincoln declared a national Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday in November. Cargill has been a giant of this holiday ever since. The company has been in the turkey business for six decades and is now the third largest turkey producer in the U.S., behind only Butterball, owned by Seaboard, and Jennie-O, owned by Hormel.

Cargill supplies approximately 900 million pounds of turkey each year, and these birds are a significant part of the North American division' 's protein division Cargill, which generates $28 billion in annual sales for the company.