Cost of Thanksgiving feast falls

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missourians planning a big Thanksgiving feast may pay slightly less for the privilege this year.

In fact, this year's 1-penny dip in the price of Thanksgiving dinner is the fifth in a row, according to a statewide pricing survey conducted by the Missouri Farm Bureau's Promotion and Education Program.

This year, a typical Thanksgiving spread for 10 is estimated to cost $3.04 per person, down from $3.05 per person a year ago.

Diane Olson, the Farm Bureau's program director, said that volunteers across the state recorded prices at their local grocery stores on items included in the average American Thanksgiving dinner a couple of weeks before the beginning of the holiday season.

"Overall, it simply means consumers get a bargain, paying a little more than a penny less per person for their holiday mean," Olson said.

The menu includes turkey, pre-mixed dressing, peas, sweet potatoes, cranberries, carrot and celery sticks, ready-to-bake rolls with real butter, pumpkin pie with real whipped cream, coffee and milk. The same menu has been used in the seven years that the survey has been released.

Lower turkey and dairy prices were the primary reasons for the drop in the cost of the meal. A turkey is 4 cents cheaper a pound this year, butter is 77 cents a pound less and milk is 21 cents less. The cost of stuffing mix and pumpkin pie were up over last year.

Olson said that when preparing a large meal, there are leftovers to consider. She said if leftovers were included in the survey, the cost of a Thanksgiving meal would be even lower.

"So when you are at the dinner table surrounded by family and friends, say a sincere thank you for the food so readily available to us," Olson said.