According to a new survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation, Thanksgiving dinner will cost 14% more this year. Dinner for a family of 10 will cost on average $53.31- up $6.41 from last year's average of $46.90 which was down 4% from 2019, the lowest in 10 years. Several factors led to this year's increased pricing, including more American's expected to cook at home as well as economic disruptions. Other factors include dramatic disruptions to the U.S. economy and supply chains over the last 20 months, inflationary pressure throughout the economy, difficulty in predicting demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, and high global demand for food, particularly meat. The biggest ticket item- turkey- is up 24% since last year. Taking turkey out of the entire meal reveals a 6.6% price increase compared to last year. The entire Thanksgiving meal price includes other staples like stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls with butter, cranberries, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream- with enough for leftovers over course.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack stated there may be situations throughout the country where a particular grocery store may not have as many turkeys as necessary. However, at the end of the day, there's going to be plenty of food on Thanksgiving plates for Americans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates Americans will spend closer to 5% more on their Thanksgiving meal this year. The Departments knows that even small price increases can make a difference for family budgets, and they are taking every step they can to mitigate that. The good news is that the top turkey producers in the country are confident that everyone who wants a bird for their Thanksgiving dinner will be able to get one, and a large one will only cost $1 more than last year.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/18/economy/thanksgiving-dinner-cost/index.html
4 comments:
This is a very interesting blog relating the circumstances of COVID with the holiday season. Every year markets have shortages of thanksgiving style foods due to the increased demand. I think families will be less reluctant to splurge this year due to the increased amount of saving brought out in families during the pandemic.
Supply and demand have hurt many industries. Despite Thanksgiving costing more on average this year, I think it is a double-edged sword because although it will cost more, I do not think many families will be hosting the usual family. I think families will be more reluctant to invite as many people over due to still being in the pandemic. I am not surprised Thanksgiving is more expensive this year because when I go grocery shopping it has been more expensive for awhile now.
While there are indeed Supply chain issues and factors with Demand, having the price going up shows signs of inflation which means people are spending more of their money, which is a good thing. People were saving money during the pandemic and the stimulus checks helped the economy, so seeing prices and inflation go up is a sign things are back on track to normal. As to the supply chain issues that may not see resolve for a while.
I was surprised to see that turkey was up 24% this year. I think that turkey availability and pricing is not good, but much better than what many would have envisioned, due to all of these supply problems. I enjoyed the part where you say that turkey make be in a shortage, however there will be more than plenty of food available for Americans during Thanksgiving.
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