By SUSAN BLOWER
Indiana Correspondent INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — If Americans need another thing to be thankful for this year, they can be grateful that the cost of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner is lower this year, based on various indexes.
This is the third consecutive year that the cost of the Thanksgiving meal has decreased for Hoosiers, according to the Indiana Farm Bureau (IFB), which annually surveys grocery store prices.
The average cost for a dinner for 10 people is $43.93, down $1.64 from last year’s average of $45.57 and $3.27 from 2007’s average of $47.63. A nationwide survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) showed an average total cost of $42.92, a $1.70 decrease from last year.
The numbers are not considered scientific but are based on the efforts of volunteer shoppers who selected a grocery in their area, checked off the given food items, and collected prices. They were instructed not to use special discounts or promotions.
In Indiana 22 volunteers participated, while 200 shoppers in 35 states collected data for the national survey.
“Americans are blessed with abundance of safe and affordable food,” said IFB Second Vice President Isabella Chism. “As we celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s appropriate to remember the significant contribution that Hoosier farmers make to our nation’s well-being.”
The Thanksgiving shopping list includes turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, as well as coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10.
Let’s talk turkey The most expensive single item of the meal is the turkey, which is thankfully plentiful this year.
Because turkey is by far the largest ticket item, the cost of the total meal is usually driven by the price of the bird.
On the Indiana survey, the cost of turkey dropped from $1.33 per pound to $1.26 per pound, making this year’s average price for a 16-pound bird $20.16.
While the 7 cents per pound drop is good news for Hoosiers, the state total is still higher than the AFBF national survey, which showed an average price of $1.16 per pound, causing a 16-pound bird to cost $18.65.
The wholesale price, which is the price stores will pay, has also come down. Still, that doesn’t mean that stores will make money on their specially discounted birds.
The predicted wholesale price is 81 to 85 cents per pound, down from 87 cents per pound last year, according to the USDA.
“Many grocery stores treat turkey as a loss leader, meaning they will give you a discount on turkey – or even sell it below cost – in order to get you into the grocery store to buy the turkey, and hopefully, the rest of the items for your Thanksgiving meal, as well,” said Corinne Alexander, Purdue University agricultural economist.
Grocery prices down The Consumer Price Index reported that as of September grocery prices are 2.5 percent lower on average than they were at this time last year.
The lower food prices are the result of a recession-driven drop in commodity and crude oil prices, Alexander said.
“This is wonderful news for grocery store shoppers,” Alexander said. “Americans enjoy a wonderful, high-quality food supply that for the average American family costs less than 10 percent of their take-home income. That’s much lower than most countries around the world.
“For our neighbors to the south in Mexico, the average family there spends about 25 percent of their take-home income on food. And for some of the poorest countries in the world, the average families in those countries are spending as much as 60 percent of their take-home income on food. Americans are extremely fortunate to eat well for not very much money,” Alexander said.
She added, however, not every American is enjoying the benefits of the overall economy due to layoffs and other slowdowns related to the recession.
“Consistent with the retail food price declines seen throughout the year, consumers will pay just a bit less for their Thanksgiving feast this year,” said Jim Sartwelle, AFBF economist.
“Consumers are benefiting at the grocery store from significantly lower energy prices and the effects of the economic slowdown. Again this year, the cost per person for this special meal is less than a typical ‘value meal’ at a fast-food outlet,” Sartwelle added.
Many stores offer special deals in order to draw customers into the store, but these deals were not reflected in the AFBF survey. AFBF said consumers may pay even less for turkey than what the survey showed, depending on the individual retailer’s specials. Half of the items on the Indiana shopping list decreased from last year. Other than turkey, the most notable item was a gallon of milk, down by 81 cents to $2.65 per gallon. The rest of the items did not decline significantly.
The biggest price increase was for a 16-ounce package of frozen peas, up by 20 cents to $1.63. Following that was three pounds of sweet potatoes, which increased by 15 cents to $3.12.
The AFBF survey was first conducted in 1986. Indiana began participating in 1993. This year’s national average cost of $42.91 is equal to $20.05 in inflation-adjusted dollars. |
