Our stomachs are full!
Thanksgiving dinner is a bit cheaper than last year, but the holiday feast is still siphoning off big bucks from American households — with inflation rising 19% more than before the pandemic.
The average cost of a meal for 10 people this year will be $58.08, or about $5.80 per person — but that’s $10 more than before the pandemic, According to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual Thanksgiving dinner survey,
While the cost of Thanksgiving dinner dropped 5% from 2023 and 9% below the record of $64.06 set in 2022, the highest since the bureau began its annual assessment in 1986, it was still 19 percent more than in 2019. % is more expensive.
“This highlights the impact of inflation on food prices and farmers’ costs since the pandemic,” the bureau said.
The turkey – the main attraction at Thanksgiving – is usually the most expensive part of the meal, but it helped keep Americans’ wallets a little fatter this year as the average price of a 16-pound bird is $25.67, or $1.60 per pound, which is $6. % is less. From 2023.
“The U.S. turkey flock is the smallest since 1985 due to avian influenza, but overall demand also declined, resulting in higher prices at the grocery store for families planning holiday meals,” said AFBF economist Bernt Nelson. Has decreased.”
The traditional Thanksgiving spread is most affordable in the South, where Americans spend about $56.81, according to the AFBF study, which showed that people living out West spend the most — $67.05 — for their feasts.
Meanwhile, people in the Northeast spend about $57.36 and Midwesterners spend $58.90, according to the bureau.
AFBF President Zippy Duvall said, “We should all be grateful that we live in a country with such an abundant food supply.”
“We are seeing a modest improvement in the cost of Thanksgiving dinner for the second year running, but America’s families, including farm families, are still being hit hard by high inflation.”
If turkey doesn’t top your plate, the wholesale price of ham is a moderate 87.74 cents per pound, according to the USDA.
Those tasked with baking Thanksgiving desserts will find the price of two frozen pie crusts dropped nearly 3% to $3.40, while pumpkin pie mix fell 6.5% to $4.15 and a gallon of milk fell more than 14% to $3.21. Is.
Prices for fresh vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots, celery and frozen peas also declined, a reflection of “the volatility of crops this year,” the AFBF said.
Sadly, those who like to carb-load on Turkey Day may need to tighten their belts as stuffing mix has increased to $4.08 per 14 ounces — an 8.2% increase from last year — while dinner rolls rose 8.4% to $4.16 per dozen. The Bureau.
A half-pint of whipping cream also rose 4.7% to $1.81, while cranberry rose 11.8% to $2.35 per 12 ounces.
Overall, grocery store prices rose 1.3% year-over-year consumer price Index,
(TagstoTranslate)US News(T)Dinner(T)Economy(T)Inflation(T)Savings(T)Thanksgiving
