Survey: Thanksgiving dinner prices remain stable

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- People shopping for the average Thanksgiving dinner will be paying slightly more this year compared to 2018.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau released its annual Market Basket survey which tallies up the total price for a Thanksgiving meal for ten people featuring 15 popular holiday food items.

This year’s average price comes at $61.57. That is slightly above last year’s total of $60.14, but still below the national average of $62.32.

“We can be thankful for those stable food prices,” said Sarah Hetke, the Director of Communications for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. “We’re not seeing real big fluctuations from month to month or year to year.”

The Thanksgiving holiday is a major consumer purchasing event which can help farmers. But even with the influx of dollars spent on food at grocery stores, officials say farmers don’t benefit as strongly as some may think.

“[For] every retail food dollar that we as consumers spend, after you account for expenses that farmers have to pay for, they have a net income of just 8 cents on each retail food dollar,” Hetke told CBS 58.

The Farm Bureau says consumers can further help farmers buy purchasing locally-sourced items.

“They can look for the Something Special from Wisconsin seal on them, you can also look at the label on the food product and see where did that come from, choosing those products that are grown and raised here in Wisconsin.”

Hetke said as Wisconsinites enjoy their Thanksgiving meals, she hopes people are mindful of where the food comes from.

“Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful and we should all be very thankful for the farmers who have grown the food on our dinner table.”

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