This year, the American Farm Bureau Federation is reporting a drop in the full cost of a Thanksgiving meal.
The Thanksgiving meal with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings will cost an average of $42.91, a decrease of $1.70, or 3.8 percent, from last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. […]
The cost of a 16-pound turkey, at roughly $1.16 a pound, reflects a decrease of 3 cents a pound from last year, or a total of 44 cents per turkey, the Farm Bureau said in its annual price list.
Of course, these numbers assume you’re not planning on an organic Thanksgiving! SmartMoney.com calculated that going organic this Thursday is likely to cost you $100 more than conventional groceries.
The question of why Thanksgiving dinner is cheaper this year is not a cut-and-dry issue; the price of food can rise and fall for all sorts of reasons.
But this year, it likely has something to do with consumer demand. If American families were flush with cash, and gobbling up turkey at a rapid pace, then we’d expect to be paying higher prices.
On the other hand, as recession-weary Americans have economized and bargain-shopped their way through 2009, these lower turkey prices come as little surprise.
Of course, not everyone’s happy about a cheap Thanksgiving dinner.
Retailers have had to cut prices to keep shoppers happy. But, as stores continue to vie for your business with dramatic discounts and special offers, make sure you’re not getting suckered into buying things you wouldn’t have purchased otherwise.
