Thanksgiving in Wisconsin Just Got More Expensive

The Cost to Give Thanks

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau just released their latest survey of Thanksgiving Meal Prices and...prices have gone up.

The price increases can be chalked up to a multitude of causes: general inflationary pressures, labor costs, supply issues, and more.

But the main point of concern for Wisconsin is not that the average cost of a thanksgiving meal is higher than the midwest average or even the national average, but that it's higher than the average cost in the most expensive region of the U.S.––the West.

Compared to the national average increase in prices for out-of-pocket at-home food expenses (i.e. grocery shopping, not dining out), the year-over-year increase in the cost of a Thanksgiving meal in Wisconsin also exceeds national averages.

Since September of last year, average prices in this category have increased by 2.7% compared to Wisconsin's 6.7% increase in the cost of a Thanksgiving meal.

Most of the increase in both the CPI: Food index and Thanksgiving meals is accounted for by a larger increase in the cost of meats, poultry, fish and eggs.

As the table below shows, September's CPI release shows that overall food at home prices increased by 2.7%, while most of it's constituent parts increased by only 0.7% - 1.6%. Meanwhile, meats, poultry, fish and eggs increased by 5.2%.

Since the government shutdown has delayed a lot of BLS's data releases, the November CPI figures will certainly tell a different story than the one above.

But the story presented by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau doesn't rely on CPI figures.

Their data is collected by them, and right now.

So what is going on in Wisconsin? Why are our Thanksgiving meals more expensive than elsewhere in the Midwest? Why are they more expensive than New England? Why are they more expensive than the most expensive region of the United States, the West coast?

In our work at MacIver, we are constantly trying to answer this question, and others like it.

What we do know is that whatever the State is doing, it's not working.

Happy Thanksgiving from the MacIver Institute! And if need be, get a chicken or ham to fill the hole in your stomach left by the lack of turkey. 

Meanwhile, we'll keep trying to fix the hole in your pocket by producing original research, educating our fellow Wisconsinites, and creating a state where free markets prevail, government is responsive, responsible and accountable, and the People are free.