Thanksgiving dinner might cost a little bit more this year. If your feast includes traditional fixings, you’ll pay about 37 cents more than last year to serve turkey, cranberries and pumpkin pie to a table of 10.
The American Farm Bureau Federation crunches these numbers every year, and they say dairy, sweet potato and pumpkin prices are up this holiday season.
And speaking of pumpkins...
"What a lot of people probably don’t realize is that Illinois is the top producer of pumpkins in the United States," says Diane Handley, manager of IL Specialty Growers Association
She says chances are, your can of pumpkin puree came from an Illinois pumpkin patch.
But say you’re bringing a veggie side, green bean casserole might be a safe bet. The Del Monte Green Bean index, yes, that’s a thing, ranks Illinois as 18th in the country for love of the classic dish.
Oh, and if you’re delivering these precious goods by car, you might want to leave early.
With gas prices at five-year lows, AAA says almost 90 percent of Thanksgiving travelers will be driving this year.