Things to do after Thanksgiving dinner
Picture this: You’ve just had your Thanksgiving meal and now everyone is just sitting around. Now what? We have some ideas to get people moving.
Thanksgiving dinner is once again expected to cost a bit less, according to an annual survey released on Wednesday.
Since 1986, the American Farm Bureau Federation has been analyzing the cost of a market basket of foods needed to make a traditional holiday meal, giving shoppers an idea of what to expect.
A traditional dinner will cost 5% less than last year, according to the survey.
This year’s feast for 10 people came in at $58.08, or less than $6 per person, according to the survey. It’s the second year of decline. In 2023, the cost of the market basket of food items decreased 4.5% overall.
In this year’s survey results, the group noted that those “declines don’t erase dramatic increases that led to a record high cost of $64.06 in 2022 for the traditional meal.”
While lower in cost, the traditional Thanksgiving meal still costs 19% more than in 2019, or pre-pandemic.
Bringing the cost of this year’s meal down is the turkey, or the centerpiece of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Turkey prices, the group said, are down 6% over last year.
An average price for a 16-pound turkey is $25.67, or $1.68 per pound, according to the AFBF survey.
“The turkey is traditionally the main attraction on the Thanksgiving table and is typically the most expensive part of the meal,” said AFBF Economist Bernt Nelson. “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.”
Volunteer shoppers checked prices Nov. 1-7, ahead of traditional holiday sales at many grocery stores. The farm bureau said its volunteers checked prices in person and online using grocery store apps and websites and shopped for the best prices without using special promotions.
Now, as we are closer to Thanksgiving, many grocery stores have frozen turkeys at bargain prices of 49 cents and as low as 33 cents a pound with store loyalty member programs.
For its informal survey, the farm bureau includes the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream to serve 10 people
Nearly all the ingredients in this year’s survey decreased in price. A 14% drop in whole milk was due to favorable weather, the farm bureau noted. And the increase in the dinner rolls and stuffing (both are up 8%) they said was because of “higher labor costs, among other drivers, are increasing the cost of processed food.”
Th farm bureau also noted that cranberry prices are up year-over-year by nearly 12% but were down 18% last year.
“We are seeing modest improvements in the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for a second year, but America’s families, including farm families, are still being hurt by high inflation,” said farm bureau President Zippy Duvall in a news release. “America has one of the most affordable food supplies in the world. In order to maintain that, we need a strong farm bill.”
In addition to its list of classic Thanksgiving food items, the farm bureau added boneless ham, russet potatoes, and frozen green beans. Adding those items brought the overall cost to $77.34 for a dinner serving 10 people.
Here are the individual surveyed item prices16-pound turkey: $25.67 or $1.68 per pound (down 6.1%)14 ounces of cubed stuffing mix: $4.08 (up 8.2%)2 frozen pie crusts: $3.40 (down 2.9%)Half pint of whipping cream: $1.81 (up 4.7%)1 pound of frozen peas: $1.73 (down 8.1%)1 dozen dinner rolls: $4.16 (up 8.4%)Miscellaneous ingredients to prepare the meal: $3.75 (down 5.1%)30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix: $4.15 (down 6.5%)1 gallon of whole milk: $3.21 (down 14.3%)3 pounds of sweet potatoes: $2.93 (down 26.2%)1-pound veggie tray (carrots & celery): $.84 (down 6.4%)12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries: $2.35 (up 11.8%)
By region, the farm bureau found the Midwest had the third-most affordable cost for the classic meal at $58.90. For the expanded meal, which included the classic plus boneless ham, russet potatoes, and green beans, the cost was $83.04, also ranking the Midwest third most affordable. The most affordable for the classic meal was in the South at $56.81 ($81.07 for expanded) followed by the Northeast at $57.36 ($81.37 for expanded). In the West, the cost jumped to $67.81 for the classic meal and $94.09 for the expanded meal.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.