Old North News

The American Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner Cost Survey found that the cost of an average Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people costs 30% more this year, on average, than the same meal cost in 2020. Additionally, it found that the "expanded" meal, which includes ham and additional sides, will cost just over 40% more than that same meal pre-Biden. A recent poll of Battleground state voters, including those from North Carolina, showed that rising food prices were the top inflationary concern for respondents. This survey was conducted amid concerns over nationwide inflation.

The survey revealed some startling figures about this year's Thanksgiving dinner costs. The American Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner Cost Survey found that the average cost of a "classic" Thanksgiving dinner for ten in 2020 was about $46.90, while that same meal will cost $61.17 on average this year. This represents a price increase of just over 30%. Similarly, the AFB found that the "expanded" Thanksgiving dinner for 10, which includes ham and additional sides, cost $60.11 in 2020 and will cost $84.75 this year – an increase of almost 41%.

Even compared to last year, consumers can expect to pay higher prices for certain Thanksgiving items. As the Louisville Courier Journal reported, Indiana University Southeast Sanders Chair in Business Uric Dufrene said that consumer spending on Thanksgiving should be higher this year than last year due to inflation which while having a lower growth rate than last year has still increased.

According to the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute's annual Thanksgiving food report, as of November 6, while the retail price of turkeys is down 16 percent from last October, prices of other Thanksgiving staples are up over last year. Since last year, retail ham prices are up 5.2 percent, canned cranberries are up nearly 60 percent, sweet potatoes are up 4 percent, russet potatoes are up 14 percent, canned green beans are up nearly 9 percent and canned pumpkin is up by 30 percent. Wine is up 1.2 percent and beer is up by 5.3 percent.

Not only has inflation impacted consumers' wallets directly but it has also influenced their concerns and outlooks. A recent poll for the League of American Workers asked voters in four battleground states including North Carolina about the issues that matter most to them. The poll found that, by a wide margin, food costs were respondents' top inflation-related concern. When asked to name their top two most significant impacts from inflation, 60 percent of poll respondents cited food prices.

The rate of price increase for food items in general does not paint an optimistic picture either. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest report on the Consumer Price Index from October 2022 to October 2023 overall food prices rose by 3.3 percent.

Furthermore, predictions made based on current trends suggest a continual rise in all food prices going forward into next year. In their most recent Food Price Outlook summarizing the October 2023 forecasts the USDA's Economic Research Service predicted that all food prices will increase by 5.8% but could go as high as 6.1% in 2023. The USDA further predicted that in 2024 all food prices will increase by 2.1% but could reach up to 6.7%. Prices of food at home are predicted to increase by 1.0%, but could peak at a high of 7.8%.