Thanksgiving Food Facts Released by the USDA

Thanksgiving time is eating time!  The USDA released their annual report about the foods that make up our Thanksgiving feast.  I thought instead of doing portion control, let's take a look at what Thanksgiving actually costs and what is contributing to that.

Here are some food facts about Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving Fact 1:

It is estimated that the average family will spend about $50.11 for their Thanksgiving feast.  Just to put it into perspective, that is twice as much as was spent about 20 years ago.  It is up 2% since last year.

Of course, the majority of cost comes from the turkey.  a 16 pound turkey costs about $23- that is about $1.44 per pound.  

Thanksgiving Fact 2:

The typical Thanksgiving meal consists of 

• turkey
• bread stuffing
• sweet potatoes
• rolls with butter
• peas
• cranberries
• a relish tray of carrots and celery
• pumpkin pie with whipped cream
• beverages of coffee and milk

Thanksgiving Fact 3:

Foods that went up the most in cost this year was for the most part came from the grains category (except pumpkin which is a vegetable):

• pumpkin pie mix
• bread stuffing
• pie shells
• brown-n-server rolls

Thanksgiving Fact 4:

The food items that actually went down in price this year were:

• gallon of whole milk
• coffee
• evaporated milk,
• onions
• eggs
• sugar
• flour

Thanksgiving Fact 5:

Our American farmers have done an outstanding job keeping food pricing reasonable with Thanksgiving costing an average of $5 per person if you eat a home cooked Thanksgiving meal.

Monday’s Nourishing Thought:  

Say thank you to the local farmers around you every day making a difference!