(AURN News) — President Donald Trump and the White House have been promoting this year’s Thanksgiving as more affordable, pointing to selective surveys and a deeply discounted Walmart holiday meal kit as evidence that prices are falling. But a fuller look at the typical grocery cart shows a more complicated picture.
The American Farm Bureau Federation’s classic turkey dinner for 10 is down about 5% from last year — a drop driven largely by steep discounts on frozen turkeys. Yet those headline numbers omit key context. Independent analyses note that bargain-priced bundles often include fewer items, smaller portions and more store brands, making true apples-to-apples comparisons difficult.
And for many families, the essentials that make a Thanksgiving meal feel complete — including mac and cheese, potatoes, corn, ham, desserts and drinks — remain more expensive than a year ago and significantly higher than before the pandemic.
For most households, the checkout line does not reflect a 25% Trump-touted discount on Thanksgiving dinner.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
