Classic Thanksgiving Dinner Cost Decreases 5% in 2012

As Arizonans sit down at the Thanksgiving table to dig into the traditional feast this year, the turkey dinner with all the trimmings will cost $47.53 for an Arizona family of 10, or around $4.75 per person. This is a decrease of $2.53 or about 5 percent under the 2011 Arizona Thanksgiving meal ($50.06) and $1.95 cents less than this year’s American Farm Bureau Thanksgiving survey of $49.48. Without factoring in store coupons or specials, the cost of a 16-pound turkey purchased in Arizona this year was $19.20, or $1.20 per pound, which reflects a decrease of 13 cents per pound, or a total of $2.08 under last year. This year’s meal is actually $5.28 cheaper than what shoppers paid four years ago when the total was $52.81. The 2012 Arizona Thanksgiving meal cost estimate is the result of the Arizona Farm Bureau’s annual informal Thanksgiving Dinner Price Survey of the prices of basic food items found on the Thanksgiving dinner table. For a second year, we conducted an Organic Price Survey on the same basic food items found on the Thanksgiving dinner table. The Organic Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings will cost $87.23, nearly twice the amount of the non-organic purchase of the same items. The biggest ticket item was a 16-pound organic turkey at $46.72 or $2.92 per pound. Milk, pumpkin mix, and cubed bread stuffing were also significantly higher in price than the non-organic items.  The Arizona Farm Bureau survey shopping list includes turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray including carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream plus coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10. To make a proper comparison, these items are the same food items used in the national Farm Bureau survey for the past two decades...more