As the United States looks ahead to the celebration of its 250th birthday next week, the real question is: What’s for supper?
The American Farm Bureau Federation wants you to think about having a good, old-fashioned cookout and announced its annual price rundown of items for the Fourth of July earlier this week. This year’s average cost for a cookout is up about 4 percent over last year, with per person costs running around $7.38.
There are regional cost differences from the AFBF data, highlighting how different areas of the country have different living expenses. For a 10-person meal, the least expensive place to spend the holiday is in the Northeast, where you’ll pay an average of $71.35 for groceries. The Midwest comes in a close second, with a total cost of $71.45 and the South tallied a $72.08. As usual, the West ranked the highest in total average cost at $80 for a 10-person feast.
On the menu | |
Item | Cost |
Ground beef (2 lbs) | $14.06 ($7.03/lb) |
Cheese (1 lb) | $3.06 |
Hamburger buns (1 package) | $2.53 |
Chicken breast (2 lbs) | $8.06 ($4.03/lb) |
Pork chops (3 lbs) | $14.79 ($4.93/lb) |
Strawberries (2 pints) | $5.27 ($2.63/pt) |
Lemons (2.5 quarts worth) | $4.54 ($1.81/qt) |
Sugar (1 pound) | 97 cents |
Pork & Beans (32 oz) | $3.06 (9 cents/oz) |
Chocolate Chip Cookies (1 package) | $4.25 |
Ice cream (half gallon) | $5.99 |
Potato salad (2.5 lbs) | $2.91 ($1.16/lb) |
Potato chips (16 oz) | $4.76 (29 cents/oz) |
The increase in average cost for this year’s Fourth of July cookout shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. In May, overall inflation was reported at approximately 4.2 percent, putting the year-over-year increase for the AFBF menu just under the national average.
However, the escalated cost of food in the grocery store does not always correlate to more money in the pockets of the farmers and ranchers who produced it. The AFBF data reveals the average take-home pay for farmers is hovering around 6 cents for every dollar spent on the Fourth of July cookout. So, on the West Coast, that $80 dollar menu translates to $4.80 making it back to the food producers who raised what’s on the dinner plate after expenses.
As we celebrate America’s founding this year, it is worth looking back on our agrarian roots and remembering that the United States was once dominated by farming as the primary occupation of virtually every citizen, including our first president, George Washington. In one of Washington’s addresses to Congress, he is quoted as saying,
“It will not be doubted that with reference either to individual or national welfare, agriculture is of primary importance. In proportion as nations advance in population and other circumstances of maturity this truth becomes more apparent, and renders the cultivation of the soil more and more an object of public patronage.”
So, in honor of our 250th celebration of independence and President George Washington, this holiday, take a moment to cultivate your own soil, or at the very least, raise a toast for those who did to found your feast.
