News

Cost of Thanksgiving dinner lower for third year in a row

The cost of Thanksgiving dinner is lower for the third year in a row. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual price survey of Thanksgiving dinner items for 10 people is $48.90, or less than $5.00 per person. It’s a 22-cent decrease from last year. One reason is farmers’ high production, according to Veronica Nigh, an economist with the American Farm Bureau.

“We’ve had several good production years in a row,” Nigh told Brownfield Ag News Thursday, shortly after the survey’s release.  “Farmers have benefited, for the most part, from good weather and good planning on their part. They’re able to continue to find efficiencies on their operations, which means a lower price for consumers.”

The net effect is that lower food costs are partly the result of the drop in farm income.

“What’s good for consumers on the lower prices means that net farm income is down over 50 percent from where we were just 5 years ago,” said Nigh. “It’s a little bit of a double-edged sword.”

The featured food on most Thanksgiving tables – the turkey – averaged $21.71 for a 16-pound bird, down 3 percent from last year.

In addition to turkey, the shopping list for Farm Bureau’s informal survey includes stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10 with plenty for leftovers.

Foods showing the largest decreases this year in addition to turkey were a gallon of milk, $2.92; a 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes, $3.39; a 1-pound bag of green peas, $1.47; and a dozen rolls, $2.25.

Several items saw modest price increases this year including cranberries, pumpkin pie mix and stuffing. A 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries was $2.65; a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix was $3.33; a 14-ounce package of cubed bread stuffing was $2.87; two nine-inch pie shells came in at $2.47 and a 1-pound veggie tray was $.75. A group of miscellaneous items including coffee and ingredients necessary to prepare the meal (butter, evaporated milk, onions, eggs, sugar and flour) was also up slightly, to $3.01.

There was no change in price for a half-pint of whipping cream at $2.08.

The Farm Bureau survey says the average cost of Thanksgiving dinner is at its lowest level since 2010.

New this year, to capture the diversity in Thanksgiving meals across the U.S., American Farm Bureau also checked prices on a 4-pound bone-in ham, 5 pounds of Russet potatoes and 1-pound of frozen green beans. Adding these foods increased the overall cost to $61.72 or about $6 per person.

A total of 166 volunteer shoppers checked prices at grocery stores in 37 states for this year’s survey. Farm Bureau volunteer shoppers are asked to look for the best possible prices, without taking advantage of special promotional coupons or purchase deals, such as spending $50 and receiving a free turkey. Shoppers with an eye for bargains in all areas of the country should be able to purchase individual menu items at prices comparable to the Farm Bureau survey averages.

Farm Bureau also surveyed the price of a traditional Thanksgiving meal available from popular food delivery services. This revealed that the convenience of food delivery does have a larger price tag. A 16-pound turkey was nearly 50 percent more expensive at nearly $2 per pound when purchased from a food delivery service. Nearly every individual item was more expensive compared to the Farm Bureau average and the total cost of the dinner was about 60 percent higher at about $8 per person.

The AFBF Thanksgiving dinner survey was first conducted in 1986. Menu items have remained unchanged since the survey’s beginning to allow for consistent price comparisons. The Farm Bureau says it makes no scientific claims about the data, but refers to the survey as an informal gauge of price trends around the nation.

AUDIO: Veronica Nigh (7 min. MP3)