High Inflation to Impact Thanksgiving Plans, From Turkey to Travel
AllSides Summary
This Thanksgiving is looking much more expensive than the last.
Talking Turkey: The average price of a fresh turkey last week was $2.23/lb, up from $1.83 last year, according to Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, and the Farm Bureau estimates that the average Thanksgiving dinner will cost 20% more than last year. Making matters worse is a bird flu outbreak that's killed 6 million turkeys, roughly 3% of the U.S. stock.
Big Picture: Overall, inflation was up 7.7% in October from last year, holiday-season airfares are expected to be up to 43% higher than last year, and a looming rail strike could cause major supply chain and public transportation disruptions.
Where People Agreed: Sources from NPR (Lean Left bias) to Fox News (Right bias) highlighted the higher costs and how they're impacting consumers.
Where People Disagreed: One writer for Slate argued that because frozen turkey "was at just $1 a pound last week," actual current turkey prices "are nowhere near what the Farm Bureau says they are." The writer also highlighted how "according to the USDA, almost 9 in 10 U.S. supermarkets are offering a sale on turkey—and there are more sales this year than last." An article from NPR focused on "taking on classic Thanksgiving dishes and finding substitutions that cost what those dishes cost in 2020." Right-rated outlets focused more exclusively on evidence of much higher prices and frustrated consumers, and many framed the Biden Administration as worthy of blame.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Don’t Believe What You Read About Turkey Inflation
Inflation on Thanksgiving isn’t just for parade balloons anymore.
According to the Farm Bureau’s annual survey, the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner is up 20 percent from 2021. As it has every year for four decades, the agriculture industry group’s report has proven irresistible to local television stations and NPR reporters seeking holiday content. It’s also been catnip for Republicans, who have pounced on the news to attack the Biden administration.
The main course on Thursday will be turkey, and turkey is the headline item in the Farm Bureau survey, accounting for...
From the Center
Thanksgiving inflation gobbles up budgets
High inflation is hitting the Thanksgiving spread.
Food prices rose almost 11 percent over the 12 months ending in October, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI), while groceries, which exclude restaurants, specifically were 12.4 percent more expensive from the same time a year ago.
And some Thanksgiving staples are even more expensive thanks to a combination of costly setbacks for farmers and food processors.
Prices for poultry were up almost 15 percent annually in October, according to the Labor Department, thanks in part to a recent outbreak...
From the Right
Thanksgiving Price Increases ‘Just Astronomical,’ Shoppers Say
Renee Fernandez had a simple strategy for Thanksgiving shopping this year: look for sales.
The 40-year-old stay-at-home mom who expects to host ten people for Thanksgiving visited several Long Island, N.Y., stores looking for deals and hoping to stretch her $250 grocery budget.
“I’m not even looking at brands right now,” said Fernandez, while shopping recently at a ShopRite in Selden. “It’s like, whatever is within my price range and however much I have to spend [in my budget]. If I have to put something back, I will.”
Some of...
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