Families may be crying fowl when they see how much the price of a Thanksgiving meal has risen this year.
The average price for a Thanksgiving meal for 10 people will cost 20% more than last year as inflation wreaks havoc on every sector of the economy, according to a Wednesday report from the American Farm Bureau Federation, which compiles the cost estimate every year around the holiday.
This year, the holiday feast is expected to cost $64.05, a big surge from the $53.31 that would have purchased the same food items last year. Since Thanksgiving in 2020, the average Thanksgiving meal has increased by a whopping 37%.
“General inflation slashing the purchasing power of consumers is a significant factor contributing to the increase in average cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner,” said AFBF chief economist Roger Cryan.
EGG-FLATION: PRICES EXPLODE THANKS TO BIRD FLU AND SCRAMBLED SUPPLY CHAINS
Inflation has been red-hot all year.
After peaking at a crushing 9.1% over the summer, according to the consumer price index, price growth has now settled to a still-far-too-high 7.7% for the 12 months ending in October. A lot of the inflation growth is a result of explosive energy prices, and those higher input costs have translated to rising prices across the board as businesses are forced to raise prices.
As a result, the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates at the most aggressive pace in four decades — an action that appears to be starting to work, although comes with the undesirable trade-off of a possible recession.
Another factor driving this year’s expensive Thanksgiving spread is the highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as bird flu.
This year has seen a historic outbreak of the virus, with the first case of bird flu in a commercial or backyard flock since the 2014-2015 outbreak being discovered in February in a commercial turkey meat operation. In early 2022, bird flu killed about 5.4 million turkeys, according to the Department of Agriculture.
The bird flu has caused some farms to cull entire flocks to prevent further spread. The diminished supply of whole turkeys has added further price pressure to the birds on top of the existing inflation.
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“The higher retail turkey cost at the grocery store can also be attributed to a slightly smaller flock this year, increased feed costs, and lighter processing weights,” Cryan said.
To find the price of an average Thanksgiving dinner, the Farm Bureau examines various food goods and has “volunteer shoppers” do price checks. The ingredients include turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee and milk.
