Inflations Woes Affect Thanksgiving Dinner

The price of a standard Thanksgiving dinner has increased by 20 percent this year due to heightened inflation brought about by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last year, the inflation woes of the coronavirus pandemic had already made Thanksgiving dinners much more pricey - a steep departure from the slowly rising (and sometimes even decreasing) price of previous years.

While the price of the turkey feast had 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 $64.05 this year.

Overall inflation only rose by around 8 percent year-over-year most recently, 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 Ukraine invasion and previously, the Covid-19 pandemic, that number was surpassed by a long shot.

An estimated 46 million turkeys are eaten every year at Thanksgiving and this year, the birds are set to also cost about 20 percent more than in 2021, amounting to almost $29 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.