With the ruinous economic outlook, it's clear that everyone's holiday bonuses will be a little lighter, and there's less disposable income to spread around for parties and presents. We've all resigned ourselves to those facts, unless we're the uber-rich.

But even the kid sister to Jesus' birthday celebration, Thanksgiving, might be a little less jolly this year when it comes to the typical family's bottom line.

The American Farm Bureau Federation published the results of its annual survey of Thanksgiving meal prices last week, and found that the cost of Thanksgiving dinner has risen significantly over last year.

Here's how it breaks down in Missouri, according to our state's Farm Bureau Federation:

This year -- $44.50 for 10 people

2007 -- $38.44

More from the farm bureau's news release:

The menu includes basics Thanksgiving fare such as: a 16-pound turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, carrot and celery sticks, peas, rolls and two pumpkin pies with whipped cream. Beverages included in the survey were coffee and a gallon of milk.

"With the exception of a gallon of whole milk which dropped $0.09, the other items on the list increased, even if only one cent. Turkey averaged $1.15 per pound compared to $0.97 last year for a net gain of $0.18 per pound. Prices also increased for stuffing mix, pumpkin pie mix, pie shells, sweet potatoes, brown and serve rolls, peas, carrots, celery, cranberries, and whipping cream."

At least gas is cheaper, eh?

This very tangible food price crunch is coupled with soaring rates of hunger in the United States to create a situation unlike any I've witnessed in my lifetime. Check out this Reuters article I found on the Guardian website to see just how many people in our own country go hungry every day.

Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but I don't see why anyone in this country should go hungry. This isn't a developing country. You should see how much food my wife and I waste (it's very hard to cook for two).

Of course, congressional Democrats are calling for more food relief from government. I'll let you debate the politics of the issue.

This is all very strange for me. As someone born in 1981, I've never really experienced an economic downturn of this sort, or not one that really inconvenienced my life in any way.

This holiday season might be just a bit darker than I remember. At least there's our health (as long as we have insurance), friends and family (unless they've abandoned us because we lost our jobs).