Thanksgiving Meal Cost Jumps 13%

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-10/thanksgiving-meal-cost-jumps-13-.html

The cost of a Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S. will jump 13 percent this year, the biggest gain in two decades, as prices rose for everything from turkey to green peas to milk, the American Farm Bureau Federation said.

A meal for 10 people on the holiday, which falls on Nov. 24 this year, will rise to $49.20 from $43.47 last year, the biggest increase since 1990, based on foods traditionally served including stuffing and pumpkin pie, the farm group said today in a release. Turkey was the most expensive and had the biggest gain, with a 16-pound bird up 22 percent at $21.57.

“Our informal survey is a good barometer of the rising trend in food prices this year,” John Anderson, a senior economist at the Farm Bureau in Washington, said in a telephone interview. “We are starting to see the supply response to higher prices, but there are substantial lags.”

Thanksgiving meal costs are up more than the pace of food inflation in the U.S., where the government forecasts prices will increase 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent this year, the fastest since 2008. Rising commodity and energy prices boosted the cost of food eaten at home by 6.3 percent in September compared with a year earlier, according to data from the Census Bureau.

[HopeHoops]

1. Hell, we eat for like a week and a half after Thanksgiving - and we're vegetarian.

Good shit, Maynard.

[KansDem]

2. Several years ago I talked my wife into having a "traditional Thanksgiving"

One very similar to the first Thanksgivings.

I researched and found what the Pilgrims had, then I adapted that to our meal:
clam chowder
turkey and herring
squash and onions
cornbread
pumpkin pudding

I really liked it but my wife didn't :(

We're now back to a Norman Rockwell-type of Thanksgiving...

[TBF]

5. I can relate

my grandma used to make New England Clam Chowder every Christmas when I was young. I may start adding it to our meal. My spouse doesn't like it, but I may make a smaller batch as a side. So yummy!

[amuse bouche]

3. I was just checking this week's circulars for my weekly list

and noticed turkeys were .59 lb at 2 different chains.That is such a good price, I am going to buy one to donate.

Potatoes seem to be up in price, but I look for sales and dinner will be a bargain that lasts several days for my family. Now, if I could just get someone else to cook it...for once.

[TBF]

4. Kroger this week - cans of vegetables were marked down if you bought 10

of the qualifying ones for the "mega deal". Del Monte (my favorite - good quality) green beans, corn, carrots, spinach etc.. not peas (???)

Anyhow, I bought a bunch and put as many as I could in our pantry (which is sorta small) and a bunch more donated to my preschooler's food drive at school.

They came out to .35 - .45 per can depending upon the vegetable (cheaper than generics).