Shoppers can expect to pay a pretty penny for their Thanksgiving meal this year.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Shoppers can expect their Thanksgiving dinner to cost a pretty penny this year. Even with inflation slowing to 2.4% since last October, this year’s Thanksgiving food prices are still much higher than past years.
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average cost of a Thanksgiving feast for 10 last year was $64.05, building on an increase over the past three years. Just between 2021 and 2022, the cost of a Thanksgiving meal increased 20%.
Turkey costs will be lower this year, plunging 22% from last year, according to the Farm Bureau. Experts attribute the lower cost of turkeys this year to more supply after an avian flu spike among the birds last fall.
Though the bird will cost less, side dishes are not following the same trend. Thanksgiving sides are expected to be 4% more expensive than 2022, which already saw massive spikes in these prices from the year before.
Here in Central New York, there are several local farms where you can get your turkey, perhaps at an even lower price.
Craig Kennedy, Owner and Operator of Twin Brook Camillus Farm, said the farm has only been selling turkeys for about four or five years, but each year they see more and more business.
“We’re 12-13 days out from Thanksgiving and we don’t have any turkeys left. People are getting panicky,” he said.
Even as the pace of rising grocery prices has slowed in recent months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that grocery prices were up nearly 17% in the past two years.