Families Expected to Gobble Up Food Savings This Thanksgiving
The cost of a full-spread feast for 10 people dips 5 percent in 2024.
Families across America will have a little extra to give thanks for this year as the cost of a large Thanksgiving feast is reported to be down five percent from 2023.
The break at the grocery store during the 2024 holiday season continues a downward trend from record prices in 2022, according to a report from News Nation. An annual survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation lists that a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people will cost an average of $58.08, or just under $6 per person sitting at the dinner table.
The decrease for this year continues a trend from the year before, when the average cost for the holiday meal dropped 4.5 percent from 2022. While the findings are a promising sign that the effects of inflation may be starting to erode, prices of groceries are still high compared to pre-pandemic levels.
“Despite the encouraging momentum, a Thanksgiving meal is still 19% higher than it was in 2019, which highlights the impact inflation has had on food prices — and farmers’ costs — since the pandemic,” reads a statement from the AFBF.
The most significant factor in the decrease in cost is the price of whole frozen turkeys, with a 16-pound bird now costing $25.67 or $1.60 per pound _ a 6 percent decrease from prices in 2023.
“The turkey is traditionally the main attraction on the Thanksgiving table and is typically the most expensive part of the meal,” AFBF Economist Bernt Nelson said. “The American turkey flock is the smallest it’s been since 1985 because of avian influenza, but overall demand has also fallen, resulting in lower prices at the grocery store for families planning a holiday meal.”
A majority of the ingredients typical for the seasonal dinner saw a drop in prices across the board.
Whole milk is down 14 percent due to daily farmers having favorable weather conditions this season. Frozen peas have decreased in price by 8 percent, making it $1.73 per pound, and the cost of sweet potatoes has dropped a significant 26.2 percent at just under $3 for a 3-pound bag.
Frozen pie crusts and cans of pumpkin pie mix are also down 2.9 percent and 6.5 percent respectively.
Some items have still gone up in price. However, a 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries is up nearly 12 percent, and processed foods like cubed stuffing mix are up more than 8 percent. A dozen dinner rolls jumped up 8.4 percent.
The overall prices shift depending on what part of the country you are in, with the most expensive being on the West Coast, costing $67.81 to feed 10 people, and the least being across the South with an average grocery bill of $56.81.