TAMPA, Fla. — Families across Florida will be filling their carts with Thanksgiving staples, and the good news is that the overall cost of the meal is down since last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Supermarkets are competing for customers with deep discounts on Thanksgiving meal deals as families prepare for the holiday weekend.
The 40th Annual American Farm Bureau Federation Thanksgiving survey shows the average cost of Thanksgiving dinner is down 5% from last year, offering some relief to shoppers who have faced rising food costs.
Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska has been tracking grocery prices at five major retailers across the Tampa Bay area all year, and the competition for Thanksgiving shoppers is fierce.
Target offers a meal for four people under $20, while Aldi's deal feeds 10 for $40.
Winn-Dixie has a "Thanks-winning" deal for $30, and Walmart's package comes out to about $4 per person with their convenient "add all to cart" option. Even Amazon has joined the Thanksgiving food fight with a 5-for-$25 dinner deal. For less than $10 per person with the Publix Complete Turkey Dinner that serves 8.
"Should Americans start to breathe a little sigh of relief?" Paluska asked Dr. David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University.
"When it comes to the cost of food, I think we have to remain cautious, and that is because we've seen the impacts of some of the latest policies that have been implemented that are putting upward pressure on prices, and there's a lot of uncertainty," Ortega said.
While the survey shows turkey prices have dropped to their lowest share of the meal cost since 2000, the side dishes will cost more. Fresh vegetables are up more than 61%, and sweet potatoes have increased 37%. Canned foods are also taking a hit due to increased packaging costs.
"That is because of the impacts of the steel and aluminum tariffs that have increased the cost of tin, steel, and the packaging costs have increased," Ortega said.
Throughout the year, Paluska visited Bay Area farms and markets, showing how buying in-season produce supports local growers while saving money. There's good news on the tariff front — hundreds of items are receiving exemptions, including bananas and coffee.
"We shouldn't expect prices to all of a sudden come down. What we can expect is that the rate of increase is going to potentially slow down, meaning that those price increases are going to moderate, not necessarily that we're going to see a drop in the price of many of these foods that we import," Ortega said.
Since Thanksgiving looks different in every home, there's no one-size-fits-all deal, making smart shopping essential.
"I think it's really going to pay off to shop around this holiday season to keep your costs and budget in check," Ortega said.
This story was reported on-air by Michael Paluska and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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