Thanksgiving meals cost Hoosiers the same as last year

INDIANAPOLIS — Hoosiers are paying an average of $53.62 for Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people, or $5.36 per person — a marginal increase of 3 cents per person from last year.

The total market basket price of $53.62 includes a 16-pound turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, a carrot and celery veggie tray, whole milk, cranberries, whipping cream, ingredients for pumpkin pie and miscellaneous baking items.

Many items in the market basket are less expensive for Hoosiers compared to last year, including cranberries, stuffing, rolls, whole milk, whipping cream and turkey.

Some produce prices increased, including carrots and celery for a veggie tray, 43-cent increase; sweet potatoes, 30-cent increase; pumpkin pie filling, 24-cent increase; and peas, 14-cent increase.

“It is important to remember that the turkey accounts for about 39% of the Thanksgiving dinner,” said Todd Davis, INFB chief economist.

“And with Indiana in the heart of turkey production and retail turkey prices down, it isn’t surprising that the turkey is more affordable this year, specifically here in Indiana.

“The concentration of turkey production in this region provides lower processing and marketing costs, which gets the turkey from the farm to the Thanksgiving table efficiently.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, just 15.9 cents of every retail food dollar can be attributed to farm production, after accounting for input costs. That makes the farmer’s share of the $53.62 market basket $8.53.

The rest is for food processing, packaging, transportation, wholesale and retail distribution, and food service preparation.

“Farmers are continuously finding ways to be agile and streamline their operation to produce healthy food families depend on for a holiday meal, despite key issues such as rising input and labor costs,” said Janis Highley, INFB second vice president.

“Many consumers don’t realize that farmers are price-takers, just like them. We don’t set the prices, and the amount farmers are being paid doesn’t cover the increase of their input expenses.”