Thanksgiving for 10 Costs $55.18. Turkey Is Just 39%

A Thanksgiving dinner for 10 costs $55.18 in the American Farm Bureau Federation's latest survey, yet the turkey is only 39% of it. We itemize the basket, follow the money from farm to checkout, and set the survey beside retailer and analyst price claims. CHAPTERS 0:00 setup 0:48 history 1:21 receipt 3:08 drivers 5:59 household 6:41 swaps 7:34 outlook The numbers: $55.18 per 10-person dinner (November 2025), down 5.0% from a year earlier. SOURCES Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner Declines (AFBF): https://www.fb.org/news-release/cost-... Farm Bureau says Thanksgiving prices down, but not enough (The Center Square): https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/f... Overall cost of Thanksgiving meal 5% lower than last year (Iowa Capital Dispatch): https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/o... Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner Declines (AFBF release via Barchart/Newsfile): https://www.barchart.com/story/news/3... Turkey Market Report Oct. 15, 2026 (IndexBox, summarizing USDA AMS): https://www.indexbox.io/blog/turkey-m... Turkey prices may be climbing, but your Thanksgiving bird is still safe to eat (Poynter): https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking... Trump Serves a Misleading Thanksgiving Meal Statistic (FactCheck.org): https://www.factcheck.org/2025/11/tru... Stores keep prices down in a tough year for turkeys (NBC Chicago/AP): https://www.nbcchicago.com/entertainm... Aldi Just Revealed Its 2026 Thanksgiving Meal Deal (Parade): https://parade.com/food/aldi-just-rev... Thanksgiving food forecast: Prices going up, but there are 'bright spots' (ABC7/GMA): https://abc7.com/story/thanksgiving-f... USDA raises poultry and egg production forecasts for 2026 and 2027 (High Plains Journal): https://hpj.com/2026/10/16/usda-raise... Minnesota, Alberta, Manitoba hit by avian influenza (WATTPoultry): https://www.wattagnet.com/poultry-mea... High diesel prices may put 'another squeeze' on the consumer (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/06/diese... Consumer Price Index News Release, September 2026 (BLS): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.htm Food Dollar - Summary Findings (USDA ERS): https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-product... Food Dollar Series Documentation (USDA ERS): https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-product... Food Inflation and the Outlook for Beef Prices (farmdoc daily, citing USDA ERS): https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/202... Cost Of Thanksgiving Dinner Declines (WHMI, quoting Farm Bureau materials): https://www.whmi.com/news/article/far... New price autopsies every week. Subscribe:    / @consumerpriceautopsy   For information and entertainment only - not financial advice. Prices vary by region and store. Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED, plus the sources listed. Produced with AI-assisted research, narration and graphics from the cited public data; every episode is reviewed by a human before publishing.