When Americans shop for turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries and other ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal, they will get a break on prices for the second time in seven years. The price tag for groceries to cook a Thanksgiving feast for 10 people would total $49.87, said the largest U.S. farm group, which has conducted the informal survey of grocery prices since 1968.
“Consumers will pay less than $5 per person for a classic Thanksgiving dinner this year,” said John Newton, an American Farm Bureau Federation economist. Expenses are down slightly, 24 cents, from last year due to lower prices for turkey, milk and pumpkin pie mix. Prices are up for sweet potatoes, cranberries, stuffing, peas and rolls.
The AFBF survey is in line with forecasts of price deflation at the grocery store for the first time since 1967. The USDA estimates grocery prices this year will decline by an average 0.5 percent from 2015. Over the past 20 years, food inflation averaged 2.6 percent annually. The AFBF survey has shown rising costs for Thanksgiving meals since $42.91 in 2009, with small declines in 2013 and this year.