Here's my Thanksgiving dinner under Obama.
Posted on 11/22/2008 5:15:10 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Stuffing yourself with stuffing and turkey and mashed potatoes and all the fixings will cost more this Thanksgiving than last year, according to the annual market basket survey from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
A traditional holiday meal for a family of eight will cost $42.37 this year, $2.72 more than the $39.66 spent on the 14 items in the basket in 2007.
Practically every item went up in price this year, except for some of the vegetables including sweet potatoes, carrots and peas.
Even with the higher prices, Farm Bureau spokesman Paul Ketring said a homemade Thanksgiving dinner is still pretty much a bargain.
"For around $5.30 per person, families can enjoy a bountiful holiday meal," Ketring said. "We are very fortunate to have this abundance and affordability coming from our farms."
The big ticket item in the Thanksgiving market basket is the turkey, and the average "unadvertised" price for a 16-pound bird was up 13 cents.
"We remind consumers many will be able to take advantage of special in-store promotions or coupons resulting in much lower prices for turkeys than reported in this survey," Ketring said.
Potatoes had the biggest price jump from last year, up 32 percent from $2.19 a 5-pound bag in 2007 to $2.90 this year.
The Farm Bureau said fewer acres of potatoes were planted this year and poor weather early in the year contributed to a smaller crop and the resulting higher prices.
Dairy prices and global demand shot up in 2007 but subsided in 2008, so the cost of a gallon of milk in this market basket survey was up only four cents to $3.39 a gallon from the 2007 survey. Last year, the price of milk was 66 cents higher than the year before.
Sweet potatoes were down 15 cents for a 3-pound bag, dropping to $1.11 a bag from $1.26 in 2007.
The market basket also includes a 14-ounce package of stuffing, a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix, a package of two, 9-inch frozen pie shells, a 12-ounce package of brown-and-serve rolls, a 1-pound package of frozen peas, half-pounds of carrots, celery and onions, a 12-ounce package of fresh cranberries and a half-pint of whipping cream.
When the Farm Bureau started doing the Thanksgiving market basket survey 17 years ago, the 14 items in the basket cost $26.50, so the cost of the traditional dinner has gone up 60 percent in 17 years.
$0.39 a lb for turkey at the Safeway around the corner. I was happy with that price.
My duaghter is coming home from college and for Thanksgiving wants grilled cheese, tomato soup and punkin pie.
Food prices still aren’t coming down and the market has no where to go but up. But hey, WAMU is offering free outgoing wire transfers if you open up an account with them.
So hey America, how’s that ‘Ownership Society’ for illegal aliens working for ya now?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020617-2.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020617.html
Since neither you nor your brother are coming home, (yes, that’s a guilt trip) I have made reservations. Gramma, Papa and I will be going out.
Michael Dean’s has something for everone, turkey and all the trimmings for Gramma,
anything your Papa could ever want, and Clam bake and S’mores bar for moi. Happy Birthday to me!
Did you catch that? Thanksgiving and Birthday without my chicks....
feelin’ guilty yet? LOL
That anything costs slightly more now, than in the past is of no big concern to me. I foresee bigger gaps in price and availibility in the future. I challange any person to keep track. We will devolve to 1928 - 19545 a “Chicken in every pot”. If we’re lucky.
I’m just sayin...
I had tomato soup, grilled cheese and chocolate chess pie tonight for supper. Yummy!
everone should be everyone
37-cents/pound at my local grocer. However, I have a farm-raised AND a wild turkey in my freezer right now, so no need to buy them this year. (I’ll roast them in February as a treat in the dark days of winter.)
Mother-in-Law is doing a 25 pounder for us all on Thanksgiving. We’ll be coming home with leftovers, no doubt, and she’s always willing to give me the carcass for soup stock....if I give some back to her. ;)
If you can’t find something to eat in America on ANY given day, you ain’t tryin’ hard enough. ;)
Foodie Ping! :)
So is it inflation OR deflation?
“I foresee bigger gaps in price and availability in the future.”
Add to that the number of people that would starve to death in front of a full ‘fridge and pantry because they can’t cook for themselves, and I won’t disagree with your statement.
Those of us that can bake bread, plant and tend a garden, cook from scratch and sew on a button will be all-powerful in the near future. :)
It’s “ObamaNation.” ;)
I had to read it twice to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. $42.37 for a family of eight? The turkeys up here are going for $1.99 a pound, so a 20 lb. turkey just about ate up that cost.
Heck, 39 cent a pound turkey and all the fixins’ made from scratch, I can’t imagine a cheaper Thanksgiving meal.
Canned pumpkin and cranberries, well, OK.
Did I tell you we grow our own potatoes and garlic...
We’re going to son’s in-laws so it’s real cheap for us!
It will be only the second time in about 30 years that I don’t bake one. I think I”m going to miss all the pies!
“Yah but the oil companies are paying for it...”
I didn’t know that. Guess I’ll tell our son to pick up a couple hundred of them in that case.
I love these articles. One 14 ounce box of stuffing...for eight people??? Are they all supermodels on a diet? I make my own using real bread, onions, celery, mushrooms, real butter and my own season mix...I’m guessing my mixture costs more than Stove Top.
I just find it amusing how they come up with their expert analysis.
And I thought food prices were related to fuel prices. Truckers have some 'splaining to do.
Doesn’t cost more this year than last with the way Wegmans has cut some of their prices.
Not only that, I still see the same sale prices on holiday goods (like chocolate morsels & cranberries) that I did last year.
Each person gets a 1/4 cup of stuffing, I guess. :(
This grocery list is quite silly in its simplicity and portions. They don’t even include butter on their list. Who makes Thanksgiving dinner without butter? That’s at minimum $2.00 a pound on sale.
I call BS their market basket is screwy weird quantities etc. My local from sweet bay ad:
http://sweetbaysupermarket.adplexonline.com/WeeklySpecials.aspx?pdx=4
Turkey .69 per LB 10.69
Rolls .99
Cranberry can .89
Stuffing 2@ 6 oz pkg 1.98
12 oz cranberries 2.29
peas 1lb .99
carrots 1lb .99
onions 1lb .99
celery bunch .99
Two pumpkin pies 7.98 premade as I am too lazy to bake them
8 oz cool whip .99 as I am too fat to eat real whipped cream
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Total 30.76
They are wrong I ordered mine (okay I am just to lazy this year) and it is $50.00
oops forgot to add on why are they worried about the cost of Thanksgiving Dinner this year they keep on telling us we are all to fat................so we can now all go on a diet. LOL
No turkey sale prices in my area. Not yet anyway.
Mine will cost a lot but it’s worth it. Free range organic turkeys taste a lot better and at least I know mine wasn’t fed melamine.
“$2.72 more”
Fortunately, I’ve made exactly $2.72 more this year than last.
Food 4 Less,with $10.00 purchase,$4.00 16 lb. turkey, sweet potatoes 5# lbs $1.00, celery 48cents,dinner rolls 98 cents,imperial margarine $.64, fresh carrots 3lbs$1.00, onions,4 lbs $1.00, pies $2.50 each, been saving old bread crusts for months for stuffing,cranberry sauce$.89, potatoes $.0.98 for 5 lbs...make my own gravy with 1/2 cup flour on hand..and half cup brown sugar on hand to glaze sweet potatoes..so I think I will do a dinner for less than twenty dollars...even with coffee for 8 people...
Diesel fuel is still high.
So easy and so delish.
I have distinct memories of holiday food served by my aunts (gone now) and I wish I knew the recipes. I would love to taste those again. Fortunately I know the recipes by my mom since we kids always helped in the kitchen.
While I won't use all the food right away, most of it is long term storage stuff like canned fruits and veggies,or baking goods.
Guess it will when broken down cost about $30 to feed the 3 of us, with plenty of left overs for several additional meals.
And what I didn't buy at Kroger's I got at the Commissary even cheaper than at the civilian stores.
Sacrilege. T.G only comes once a year a pound of butter won't kill you. (Unless it is frozen and fired at a high velocity at your head.)
you are right....except,I dont really like real butter, and I was raised on a farm and churned plenty of it.. you have a tasty bird and enjoy the goodness
Teasing in my previous post.
I read somewhere where people left margarine outside an no animal or insect would eat the stuff. Scary. I used to eat margarine growing up and used to think butter and whole milk tasted weird.
Ooh-la-la. My favorite ingredients for delicioso. :)
My secret is equal amounts of white wine, butter and orange juice for basting, plus fresh rosemary and thyme I grow on my windowsill.
I want to know why our ingredients weren't listed for the shopping basket. LOL
Everybody in my house hates cranberry sauce or otherwise since we have an invite for Thanksgiving day to my nephew’s house where BIL is frying a turkey with my turkey fryer and smoking a ham in my smoker. We are doing a mini dinner tomorrow Turkey @ 69 per lb 10.59 per 15 lbs, mashies at 3$ per large box we will not use up and veggies @ .99 per lb. along with homemade giblet gravy. along with dinner rolls @ .99 per pkg. About $17 total to feed 4 persons with abundant leftovers for turkey sandwiches etc.
Here’s what I paid in AZ:
honeysuckle white turkey 69cents per pound
5 ls bag potatoes - 97 cents
Mrs. Cubbison’s stuffing mix - 2.00
celery - 79 cents
yellow onions - 88 cents per pound
cranberry sauce - 1.25 per can
yams - 1.66 per can
pumpkin in 16 oz can - 1.66
frozen pie crust - 2.50
Your stuffing is better than Stovetop.
I make mine from scratch most every year but this year. I do mine pretty much the way you explained it.
Has the price for a Thanksgiving Dinner ever gone DOWN as compared to the year before?
I think it depends on the item but no, I have not seen prices really come down. Baking items are quite high though.
Fry it inject all the flavors u want in it and it will be done in an hour more or less. Google is your friend put in fried turkey and see what you get. Fryers are reasonable and have many other uses think chicken and fish and ask your kids what they like.
$.49/lb for a Butterball in LA - Cheap Meat if you ask me.
Free Range Turkey at Henry’s $.99/lb. Have to buy $30 of stuff. (So Cal)
Here's my Thanksgiving dinner under Obama.
Mainers are being encouraged to serve lobster at Thanksgiving as the price of lobster has plummetted of late and the fisherman are hurting.
I know everything is relative, but I wonder what the cost of a meal compares — in ratio to earnings, and how different it is from years past. Just wondering. Is it like the cost of a quart of milk is higher than it was 20 years ago -— but so are earnings.
Off topic — The parenthesed comment, after my name, is gone. How does one add one? I’ve looked all over FR, but can’t find how to do it and I don’t remember how I did it in the first place!
The title cracks me up! I got the free turkey at Ingles because I “spent” a certain amount(all subsidized with coupons so that was a 30-40% savings right off the bat). And that Thanksgiving meal stretches into another 5 meals after adding about a dollar worth of sides for each meal. The truth is, Thanksgiving dinner is the meal that keeps on giving.
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