This Thanksgiving, families across America will reunite after being unable to do so last year due to the pandemic. However, the cost of turkeys -– a holiday staple –- has inflation compared to prices in years past.
The series of price increases for this commodity was more than 23% compared to past years.
The increase in turkey prices is due to many reasons, but the primary one according to Jason Lask, head of the Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University, is the bird flu. He stated that this flu affected more than six percent of the national product during early months this year, which has led to people bidding on what turkeys are available.
Although Americans are anxious about the costly prices of turkeys, opinion polls demonstrate that the majority of people will still buy everything else needed for Thanksgiving dinner like pies, even though their prices have also raised considerably.
After that, they return to adjust the food budget, which is still inflated.
According to Andrew Stephens, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Madison, “The price hike affected all products, and perhaps the turkey is slightly more due to the flu. Also, because it is a season in which there is high demand for turkeys , It’s good that they are a product that can be frozen and stored so stores have quantities available within a comfortable time period. Otherwise some people had trouble finding it in markets.”
If the bird flu returns next year as expected by industry experts, prices for turkeys will not return to normal, especially by Thanksgiving.
Despite the recent price hike, Americans remain adamant about celebrating Thanksgiving with their loved ones. For many, this holiday is second only to Christmas in terms of importance, especially since Corona has deprived them of this pleasure for two consecutive years..
