AFBF: Thanksgiving Dinner Cost Down This Year

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner serving ten people is down slightly. Bernt Nelson, AFBF economist, says their volunteer shoppers found the average cost for that dinner for ten will run $58.08, a year-over-year drop of about 5%. But, the cost of that same dinner is also roughly 20% higher than what consumers were paying five years ago. Nelson added several items this year could give shoppers sticker shock.

“The biggest increases were kind of in some of the big ticket items, so we have foods like stuffing and dinner rolls, and these went up by about 8%," Nelson said. "The biggest price increase was in the price of cranberries. So, this was up 12% this year, and something to keep in mind is that cranberries saw a significant decrease last year, around an 18% drop in prices. According to our survey, this year's price increase puts cranberries closer to the historic norms.”

Nelson pointed out this year’s survey reflects the overall economy.

“While inflation has slowed down, it really hasn't slowed down enough to bring costs back down to these pre-pandemic levels. So, it's really important to remember that our farmers and ranchers, like our consumers, are also dealing with inflation, so the cost of supplies to grow food has gone up, while USDA predicts that net farm income is going to be down nearly 25%t compared to just two years ago.”

When it comes to individual prices for Thanksgiving items: