PORTLAND, Ore. — Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner this year? If the answer is yes, expect to pay a little more than in years past, from the turkey to the stuffing.
A Thanksgiving dinner for 10 is estimated to cost $64.05, or just under $6.50 per person this year — a 20% increase from last year's average of $53.31, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Farm Bureau's 37th annual survey showed that turkeys cost more than last year, at almost $29 for a 16-pound bird. That is $1.81 more per pound than last year, a 21% increase.
And turkey isn't the only thing on the menu that has gone up; pie crusts are up 26%, dinner rolls are up 22% and even stuffing had nearly a 70% price hike.
But despite the higher prices, people are still celebrating the holiday — some of them going all out.
“The only time I seen more expensive turkeys is when we were visiting our daughter in Switzerland, and it was $200 there, but this is approaching that,” said Lane Borg, who paid nearly $100 for her turkey.
Local grocery stores were busy on Wednesday, the day before the big dinner across homes. One employee at Zupan’s in Lake Oswego said this is the first time in a long time where all of the cashiers were busy with customers.
The day before Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve are two of the biggest days for grocery stores, and this year was no different.
Regardless of the cost, many Portlanders are thankful for the time they’ll be getting with family and friends this year.