Turkey Day Feast to Gobble Slightly Fewer Dollars

As Americans prepare for Thanksgiving, they’ll see some relief in food prices for their dinner that day, a new study from the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has found. Specifically, the federation’s 38th annual survey on such costs found that serving this year’s classic Thanksgiving feast for 10 will total $61.17, or approximately $6.12 per guest.

That represents a 4.5 percent decline from historically high prices last year, driven by a decline in the price of the Thanksgiving dinner centerpiece: the turkey. Despite the year-over-year relief, the cost is still 25 percent  higher compared to 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the classic T-Day grocery basket, seven of the 11 surveyed items saw a price decrease since last year, including turkey, cubed stuffing, frozen peas, cranberries, pie shells, whipping cream and whole milk. But the price of four items rose in price year-over-year – the relish tray (a mix of fresh celery and carrots), sweet potatoes, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie mix.

“Although survey prices have begun to come down, food price inflation remains a real issue and serves as a constraint on the budget of all U.S. consumers,” notes AFBF Economist Betty Resnick.

The AFBF market basket survey includes responses from all 50 states and Puerto Rico collected between Nov. 1-6, mostly consisting of volunteer shoppers (members checking prices) visiting their local grocery stores to check prices of the various items used to prepare a classic Thanksgiving feast, which this year will be served up on Nov. 23.

Click here for more from the survey.