Inflation woes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic have made all sorts of goods more expensive – at least for the meantime. This includes the Thanksgiving dinners that American families are looking to cook up for the holiday this week.
While the price of the turkey feast had remained stable for several years and dipped during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the American Farm Bureau has found that the ingredients for a classic 10-person Thanksgiving meal have increased to $53.31 this year. While that’s just around $5 per person, the price went up by 14 percent since last year and 9 percent since 2019.
Overall inflation only rose by 8 percent during that time period, but since meats are disproportionately affected by rising prices, the Thanksgiving meal cost has increased above average. The U.S. Fed is aiming to limit inflation to 2 percent per year, but due to the exceptional circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, price increases are looking to be higher at the moment.
An estimated 46 million turkeys are eaten every year at Thanksgiving and this year, the birds are set to cost about 15 percent more than in 2019, amounting to $23.99 on average for a 16-pound purchase. According to the American Farm Bureau, U.S. farmers only receive around eight cents out of every dollar spent on food for the Thanksgiving feast.
Looking further into the past, Thanksgiving meals, like most food items, have actually become less expensive over time when adjusted for inflation, even though 2021 marks a departure from that trend.
This chart shows the average price of a ten-person Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S. from 1990 to 2021.
