Your Thanksgiving turkey will likely be cheaper this year

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --- We are just days away from celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday. This year, inflation impacted the economy in more ways than one, but how will it impact your wallet this holiday season?

Most stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, so this weekend might be the best time to do your holiday dinner shopping. You'll likely find the grocery bill to be less than it was last year, and you can thank the turkey for that.

"Turkey prices should be significantly lower this year than they were last year," said Andrew Stevens, Agricultural and Applied Economics Professor, UW-Madison.

Stevens says that while inflation caused a spike to overall food prices this year, the main dish on your Thanksgiving table won't break your bank this season.

"Wholesale prices for frozen turkeys are about 25% lower this year than they were this time last year and that's largely because last year there was a huge outbreak of avian influenza or bird flu that killed off a bunch of those turkeys," he said.

Stevens says despite prices for other foods being higher, the numbers are still looking better than the previous year.

"Last year, food prices were up over 11% so we're seeing that ease off a little bit," he said.

There are, however, some items you may want to price check before you buy.

"When I look at the prices for food at the grocery store, the categories that have seen the highest price increases are things like fats, oils, and sugar and sweets so this is an area where sort of the health advice of eating your fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and dairy products and all those sorts of things wind up really well with which products haven't gone up in price," said Stevens.

As you're shopping for your turkey day meal...consider picking up a few extra items and donate them to your local food pantry.