{"id":388,"date":"2023-11-21T12:00:56","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mayamuir.com\/?p=388"},"modified":"2023-11-24T11:39:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T11:39:47","slug":"turkey-is-cheaper-but-inflation-raised-prices-of-other-thanksgiving-fixings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mayamuir.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/21\/turkey-is-cheaper-but-inflation-raised-prices-of-other-thanksgiving-fixings\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey is cheaper, but inflation raised prices of other Thanksgiving fixings"},"content":{"rendered":"
The good news this Thanksgiving is that the price of turkey and eggs is down significantly this year. The bad news is the price of just about everything else is up.<\/p>\n
The bird flu swept through the country’s turkey farms in 2022,<\/a> driving up the cost of the Thanksgiving meal centerpiece. The flu also helped boost the price of eggs.<\/p>\n The toll on turkeys and overall inflation resulted in a record price tag of $64.05 for a holiday meal for 10 people in 2022, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation<\/a>. The average total for this year’s meal tab is expected to be $61.17, slightly lower but well above the average of $53.31 in 2021 and up a whopping 25% compared to 2019, the farm bureau said.<\/p>\n Shoppers might not know the precise percentages involved, but they’re experiencing the increases with every trip to the grocery store. Families having trouble making ends meet are particularly vulnerable as prices stay elevated, and food banks and anti-hunger programs are feeling the strain.<\/p>\n “Even though turkey’s down, the overall food price inflation is up this year. You’re going to see people probably spend a little less this year than last year,” said Dawn Thilmany, a professor of agricultural economics at Colorado State University and director of the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center.<\/p>\n Overall prices at the grocery store are 2.5% higher, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thilmany said some of the increases per category are 4% for dairy and 8.5% for fruits and vegetables, which includes fresh and some processed items.<\/p>\n USDA figures in September showed that turkeys cost about $1.27 per pound, compared to $2 around Thanksgiving 2022. The price of eggs has dropped 14%.<\/p>\n “Turkey and eggs are about the only products I can think of that are lower than last year,” Thilmany said.<\/p>\n Farmers are feeling the effects of inflation, too, American Farm Bureau Federation President Vincent “Zippy” Duvall said in a statement.<\/p>\n “Growing the food families rely on is a constant challenge for farmers because of high fuel, seed, fertilizer and transportation costs, just to name a few,” Duvall said.<\/p>\n For food banks and nonprofits, the pressure of inflation was aggravated by the end earlier this year of the emergency increases in SNAP benefits,<\/a> or food stamps, put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Erin Pulling, president and CEO of Food Bank of the Rockies,<\/a> said the average family of four saw a $370 drop in assistance per month.<\/p>\n “What we’ve seen at some of our mobile food pantries is an increase of 40 to 60% (in people) over what it was several months ago before the SNAP decrease took effect,” Pulling said.<\/p>\n