Thanksgiving Dinner Costs More This Year

Madistan.com ^ | November 22, 2008 | Staff Writer

[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.

[DaveMSmith]

I love these articles. One 14 ounce box of stuffing...for eight people???

My SIL asked me to make my stuffing this year.. for 7. It's popular, so I make enough for leftovers. Picked up the fixings yesterday... 3 loaves of bread, veggies, chicken broth, etc: almost $40. This isn't counting spices or others things I already had.

If I showed up with stovetop or something like that, I'd be shown the door! :)