 |
        |
|
 |
|
Affordable Thanksgiving Feasts Feature South Carolina Commodities Columbia, SC - This Thanksgiving Americans have much to be thankful for including the fact that the cost of the traditional holiday meal decreased from last year, according to Farm Bureau. Many Thanksgiving feasts this year will feature South Carolina grown commodities. In Farm Bureau’s annual informal survey of the price of basic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table, the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $34.56, a 48-cent drop from last year’s survey average of $35.04. It marks only the second drop in average price since 1991. The traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings. South Carolina farmers contribute to holiday meals around the country because of the volume of commodities they produce. According to the SC Agricultural Statistics Service, South Carolina ranks eighth in the nation in turkey production, ninth in production of sweet potatoes, and tenth in pecan production. Turkey production is the state’s fourth largest commodity in cash receipts at $140,540,000 annually. Americans enjoy the most affordable, most abundant, and safest food supply in the world. The average American devotes only 10 percent of his disposable personal income to pay for food – but only 19 cents of every dollar spent on food goes to the farmers who produced it. The rest goes for wages and materials for production, processing, marketing, transportation and distribution. “As we sit down this Thanksgiving to enjoy the bounty of food produced by farm families, it’s only appropriate to remember that it all starts on America’s farmland. That is truly one of our nation’s greatest blessings,” said David Winkles, President of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation. The national 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 and beverages of coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10. The cost of a 16-pound turkey, at $14.84 or roughly 93 cents per pound, reflects a decrease of 2 cents per pound, or a 32-cent drop in the total average, from the 2001 average. This is the largest contributor to the overall drop in the cost of the Thanksgiving dinner. “The drop in the price of turkey is probably due to grocery stores stocking up early on a plentiful supply of frozen turkeys,” said American Farm Bureau Economist Mark Jenner. “Our volunteer shoppers are asked not to use prices that require promotional coupons or purchase deals, such as spend $50 and get a free turkey. The fact that our volunteer shoppers still find the average price of turkey below a dollar per pound is an amazing value by any standard.” A majority of other items on the AFBF survey also dropped in price. Items showing a decrease included sweet potatoes, $2.37 for three pounds; a 16-ounce package of frozen green peas, $1.29; a gallon of whole milk, $2.76; a half-pint carton of whipping cream, $1.23; a package of two nine-inch pie shells, $1.66; and a 12-ounce package of fresh cranberries, $1.68. Items that increased in price this year were a 14-ounce package of cubed stuffing, $2.41; a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix, $1.73; and a 12-ounce package of brown-and-serve rolls, $1.48. In addition, a combined group of miscellaneous items, including coffee and ingredients necessary to prepare the meal (onions, eggs, sugar, flour, evaporated milk and butter) increased to $2.57. The price of a combined pound of celery and carrots, used for a relish tray, remained the same, 54 cents. Although the survey reveals a decrease in price this year, Jenner said throughout the years, Americans have enjoyed very stable food costs. The annual Farm Bureau Thanksgiving Meal Cost Survey is unscientific, but is a gauge of actual price trends across the nation. Bargain shoppers in all areas should be able to purchase individual menu items at prices comparable to the Farm Bureau survey averages. Supermarkets in some areas are increasingly offering ready-to-eat Thanksgiving meals for up to 10 people, with all the trimmings, for approximately $40. A total of 135 volunteer shoppers from 30 states participated in this year’s survey. Shoppers are asked to identify the best in-store price, excluding promotional coupons and special deals. Farm Bureau’s survey menu has remained unchanged since 1986 to allow for consistent price comparisons.
#
# # |
|
|
||||
 |
|||||||||
