Energy costs push up price of turkey dinner

Wendy Brown | The New Mexican

11/21/2007 -

As Anita Salazar packed Thanksgiving groceries into her vehicle Wednesday at the Smith's on Pacheco Street, she said it seemed like turkeys were a little more expensive than last year.

It wasn't her imagination.

The average cost of a 16-pound turkey went up $1.93 compared to last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, a Washington, D.C.-based agricultural trade agency that has tracked the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner since 1986.

Increased energy costs for transportation and processing over the past year were key factors in the price increase, said Jim Sartwelle, an economist with the farm bureau.

Also, "the inventory of birds in cold storage is relatively small this year," Sartwelle said. "This has helped drive up the average retail turkey price."

In Santa Fe, however, while prices might have gone up compared to last year, people could still buy turkeys for less than the national average of $1.10 a pound. Smith's had them on sale for 35 cents a pound, and at Albertsons, the price was 69 cents a pound.

If money wasn't an issue, people could buy a free-range, vegetarian-fed, heritage turkey from the Good Shepherd Turkey Ranch at Whole Foods for $4.99 a pound.

In all, the average cost of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and other trimmings increased by $4.16 over last year — the biggest increase since 1990, according to the farm bureau. That year, the cost of the meal increased by $4.15.

This year, the average cost of a turkey dinner for 10 was $42.26, according to the farm bureau. In 1986, it was $28.74.

But when the cost of this year's meal is adjusted for inflation, the cost has decreased by $8.28 since 1986, according to the farm bureau.

In the past 20 years, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner has declined 9 percent when adjusted for inflation, Sartwelle said.

In addition to a 16-pound turkey, the farm bureau's meal includes cube stuffing, pumpkin pie mix, pie shells, sweet potatoes, a package of 12 rolls, peas, a tray of carrots and celery, milk, cream, fresh cranberries and miscellaneous ingredients.

Next to the price jump for turkeys, the biggest price increase this year was for a gallon of whole milk, which increased 95 cents, according to the farm bureau.

But in Santa Fe, sale prices at Albertsons and Smith's were lower than the national averages the farm bureau listed. Santa Fe shoppers could buy a nearly identical meal at Albertsons for $32.67 and one at Smith's for $26.68.

And milk at both stores was less than the national average of $3.88. A gallon of whole milk was on sale for $2.99 at Albertsons and cost $3.49 at Smith's.

Including the fancy free-range turkey, a comparable, yet almost entirely organic, meal from Whole Foods would cost $117.70. A gallon of organic whole milk at the store sold for $5.49. The New Mexican couldn't find pumpkin pie mix at the store, but substituted a locally made pumpkin pie for $12.99.

The farm bureau tallied the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner this year by asking 151 volunteer shoppers from 31 states to look for the best possible prices on items, according to a news release. The bureau instructs the shoppers not to take advantage of special promotional coupons or purchase deals.

The New Mexican checked prices at Albertsons and Whole Foods on Tuesday and at Smith's on Wednesday. The New Mexican could not find an equivalent one-pound tray of carrots and celery at any of the stores.

Also, the farm bureau did not specify how the bureau compiled the cost of miscellaneous ingredients. For the carrot and celery tray and miscellaneous ingredients, The New Mexican substituted the farm bureau's prices for those items when calculating the cost of equivalent meals at local stores.

Contact Wendy Brown at 986-3072 or wbrown@sfnewmexican.com.