Cost of Thanksgiving

Hey Hey, Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away!!

You ready?

I am.

I LOVE Thanksgiving!

This year, my brother and sister-in-law are hosting the family for Thanksgiving lunch, which'll be fun.

For 28 years now, the American Farm Bureau Federation has been computing the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for 10.

Items on their menu include:

turkey

bread stuffing

sweet potatoes

rolls with butter

peas

cranberries

relish tray of carrots and celery

pumpkin pie with whipped cream

beverages of coffee and milk

Before I get into the statistics, I will make a few comments about their selection of food items.

First off, peas?  WHAT?  who serves peas for T-giving?  I can say with almost complete certainty that green beans or green bean casserole is way more popular.  

Secondly, wonder what they mean by "cranberries".  Cranberry sauce?  Cranberry jelly?  Cooked cranberries?  I like them all, so personally speaking, it does not matter to me which they choose.

Third, I know sweet potatoes (yams) are the traditional starch that is found on the T-giving table (other than dressing), but I will take mashed potatoes please.  Yams be nasty!

Now, here's what the Farm Bureau is saying for 2013 -- remember this is for a family of 10.

The average cost of Thanksgiving turkey and the fixings is $49.04, 44 cents less than a year ago.

The big ticket item — a 16-pound gobbler — came in at $21.76 this year.  It’s roughly $1.36 per pound, a decrease of about 3 cents per pound, or a total of 47 cents per whole turkey, compared to 2012.

Other items that declined in price included a dozen brown-n-serve rolls, $2.18; one pound of green peas, $1.54; a 14-ounce package of cubed bread stuffing, $2.67; fresh cranberries, $2.42; a half pint of whipping cream, $1.85; and two nine-inch pie shells, $2.49.

I guess that answers my question about cranberries.... "fresh cranberries" is their choice.

But, I prefer the jellied cranberry sauce.

Or, as my hero Ernest P. Worell refers to it.... the "sauce shaped like a can".

For those who are more visual people, here's a table that lays out all this food cost information:

For some of these things, I do not think they've shopped at Aldi's.  I know they can save some cents on the milk, pie crusts, and rolls.

The L.A. Times added this statistic:

When the Farm Bureau survey was first launched in 1986, the nominal cost of the full Thanksgiving dinner was $28.74. The cost has hovered around $49 since 2011.

Up $20 since 1986 !!

I was 12 then.

We probably had Thanksgiving dinner out at Grandpa and Grandma Honnolds.  And, I was likely involved in 1 of the 2 trips over to Paris to transport Uncle Ike. Both of those were traditions for our family.

But, this is 2013.

And, it's gonna cost my brother and sister-in-law around $4.90 to feed each of us.

Of course, they may go with ham instead of turkey.

Or, with baked potatoes instead of sweet potatoes.

Or, skip the yams and peas (PLEASE!).

Out for now....

Matt