The rising costs of turkey this Thanksgiving have spiked the meal prices by 14%.
This price hike triggered suggestions that Americans can cope with inflation by dropping turkey (a traditional Thanksgiving dinner item) from their menu, sparking criticism from various sectors.
Turkey prices increased by 21% compared to last year
According to the American Farm Bureau, a complete Thanksgiving feast will cost $53.31 for a family of 10, which includes a vegetable tray, sweet potatoes, and a pie, accounting for an almost 14% increase compared to last year.
It is important to note here these prices continued declining every year after 2015 until today. Jay Jandrin, the CEO and president of Butterball, said everyone is facing chronic inflation.
Butterball is a North Carolina-based company that provides almost one-third of turkeys on Thanksgiving. The company is unable to attract workers, which is ultimately causing production delays and hence, inflation.
Butterball also asserted due to delays, turkeys are getting older, which is increasing the cost of their feed, thus driving the prices higher than normal.
My father-in-law owns a meat packing plant in Michigan. He’s here with me for Thanksgiving. Just showed me his turkey pricing increase: January 2020 $1.15 a pound. January 2021 it’s now $3.73 for the same turkey per pound. Insane. Direct inflation tax to customers.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) November 23, 2021
However, Jay Jandrian expressed optimism the company somehow managed to ship enough turkeys to grocery stores; although their sizes are a bit larger this time, due to delays.
The latest data from the US Department of Agriculture suggested an 8 to 16 pound frozen turkey cost nearly $1.35 per pound on wholesale; this is a 21% increase from the last year.
Likewise, due to the heavy rainy season and fungus in Illinois, along with drought in California, pumpkin crops remained small. Illinois is the top supplier of pumpkins, and a rainy season limited the production of pumpkins this year.
According to Nielsen IQ, fresh Pumpkins cost $2.72 per pound on average, a 5% increase compared to the last year. Similarly, the prices of canned cranberries and green beans are 2.5% and $4 respectively.
NBC recommends people drop turkey and guests to reduce costs
NBC host Kristen Welker came into the limelight for asking Americans to forgo turkey to bring their prices down. She noted the turkey price hike is normal, considering the costs of everything are going up. This is due to the unprecedented 6.2 percent inflation this year.
Not only this, but the host also added that informing guests about dropping the turkey from the menu will also help them in reducing the number of guests. According to Welker, this will ultimately bring down the cost of the event dramatically.
NBC's solution for sky-high inflation is to "forgo the turkey".
They also said that this would cut costs because some of your guests might not come to your Thanksgiving because you don't have turkey.
They rather you eat Thanksgiving alone than call for Biden to lower costs. pic.twitter.com/VzXMkhoShc
— Troy Nehls (@SheriffTNehls) November 23, 2021
NBC News also came into the limelight in 2019 when it published an article encouraging Americans not to post photos with the Thanksgiving dinner. They asserted these photos promote violence because they show people’s obsession with meat.
Inflation has been a top-notch national issue these days, which is not likely to go away even after Thanksgiving. Reportedly, it will impact the whole holiday season this year.
