Shoppers feast their eyes on higher prices for Thanksgiving dinner

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Rising food costs are putting people in a pinch this year, and this is all happening just 72 hours away from Thanksgiving.

If you are balling on a budget this year, Thanksgiving dinner might be a little bit challenging.

“This is the highest paid ever, $257,” said local shopper Janet Hogstron.

“Makes you kind of wonder, maybe I need to just rethink my menu,” added local shopper Lisa Christiana.

Shoppers like Lisa Christiana and Janet Hogstron do their annual holiday scour to find the best for Thanksgiving dinner at places like Calandro’s Supermarket.

“Before Thanksgiving, along with a couple of days before Christmas, are our biggest days of the year,” said Blaise Calandro, Calandro’s Supermarket assistant store manager.

However, some were feasting their eyes on higher prices everywhere instead.

“One of my favorite things to do is to cook for family and friends, and that’s kind of been cost-prohibitive,” said Christiana.

“We’re looking at 40 to 60% increases on costs for turkeys. Most of this center store stuff like, you know, cranberry sauce and bread stuffing, that stuff hasn’t changed a whole lot,” said Calandro.

Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Dr. Mike Strain said prices are creeping up to record highs.

“Thanksgiving is about 14% more expensive than last year. Overall food inflation for meats, poultry, fish is up 19%,” he said.

“I stopped with the sole purpose of buying a quart of oysters to make some oyster dressing. They want $56 for a quart of oysters that expire tomorrow,” said Christiana.

“What happens is that we’ve been through COVID, we’ve had labor issues, supply chain issues, production issues, transportation issues. So, there are many factors that are involved and when you get that final price,” Strain explained.

Families all over are finding ways to make it work.

“You kind of have to learn not to use what you normally used,” said Christiana.

Strain said shopping strategically this year is key to a successful Thanksgiving dinner.

“I think, go ahead and start shopping, look for the sales. Shop at your local stores. Also, you can go by and visit your farmer’s markets if you want to save some money and a little bit of legwork,” Strain advised.