Thursday afternoon or early evening most of us will gather with friends and family and say a blessing or two. We will share the fellowship of Thanksgiving. Most of us will do that around a holiday table piled high with wonderful treats and delicious meats. Again this year the cost of that traditional Thanksgiving bounty will take a little bit more out of your pocket.

For the fourth year in a row the cost of the traditional holiday meal of turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, and other favorites has risen. The LSU AgCenter recently did a survey of grocery stores in the Baton Rouge area and found out that to feed a table of ten you'll need to spend just under $50. If you're into exact numbers the total cost came out to be $49.81, that's an increase of $1.31 compared to one  year ago.

The reason for the increase was the higher cost of turkey. According to  economist Kurt Guidry,

That's predominately the function of the outbreak of avian influenza that impacted that industry earlier this year.

Guidry's comments to the Louisiana Radio Network indicated that a 9% rise in the cost of turkey was only part of the equation. On the savings side the cost of milk was down about .50 cents a gallon but it wasn't a large enough drop in price to offset the rise in poultry prices.

Guidry also suggested that the way you choose to prepare your feast will have an impact on the cost as well. If you're planning on frying your turkey you'll need to add an additional $30-$45 dollars for the cost of oil.

Will the increase in price really affect the way most of us celebrate Thanksgiving?

We're only still looking at probably a one to two-percent increase over last year and that's normal inflation that we would normally expect to see.

So most consumers won't even notice that they have paid a few pennies more.

 

 

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