Thanksgiving inflation moves buyers to chicken
Inflation is forcing picky Big Apple shoppers to wing it on Thanksgiving, with some telling The Post they’re going to ditch chicken because turkey is just too expensive.
“I’m going to buy cooked chicken that they usually have on sale for $5 or $7,” sighed Osvaldo Baez, 62, who is on a fixed income and has always celebrated Thanksgiving with turkey.
At Key Food in the East Village, where The Post found Baez shopping, a 16-pound Butterball ran $1.99 a pound — after spending an extra $75 on groceries.
“All these companies are making money, billions and billions and billions, and they̵[ads1]7;re still inflating the prices of all goods,” he screamed. “And the authorities allow it – they are fully aware of it.”
A 12-item holiday spread serving 10 people is estimated to cost a whopping $64.05 this year, up 20 percent from $53.31 just last year, according to the annual American Farm Bureau Federation survey.
Frozen turkeys included in the survey cost $1.81 a pound in mid-to-late October, a 21 percent jump from last year, due in part to a smaller flock this year and higher feed costs.
Among other price increases: dices cost $3.88 for a 14-ounce can, up from $2.29 last year, while a two-pack of pie crusts increased 77 cents to $3.68.
Fed-up shoppers said the Biden administration’s profligate spending was to blame for their sudden bout of fiscal agita.
“We spent too much money as a government, which is the problem,” griped Jim Bitros, 74. “There’s no such thing as free money, and you have to figure that out at some point.”
“Who is in the administration now?” a 62-year-old bookkeeper soured rhetorically, adding that eggs cost $10. – It wasn’t like that before.
“I’m sick,” she added. “I can’t save anything. I can’t save a bit on what I used to go on holiday.”
The president said last month that he is trying to help families cope with the fact that Thanksgiving “costs a lot” of money at an event announcing efforts to curb banking “junk fees.”
These families are now getting a serious case of supermarket sticker shock.
“I’ve heard about it, but now I’m seeing it with my own eyes,” cried Denise Perez, 47, who was horrified to see roast pork costing $1.49 a pound, 50 percent more than the regular price, along with higher-priced turkey and vegetables.
“General inflation reducing the purchasing power of consumers is a significant factor contributing to the increase in the average cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner,” said AFBF Chief Economist Roger Cryan, who also linked the soaring costs to supply chain problems and the war in Ukraine.
