Have you recently turned on the TV, read an article, or listened to a radio show where an economist was talking about inflation, reconciliation, GDP, or stagflation? In other words, just a lot of economic analysis that is hard to understand.
I certainly have and have found myself wanting to say, “just tell me how this will impact my family right now!” This economy is not working for most Americans, and this Thanksgiving everyone will pay more to put together the traditional Thanksgiving holiday dinner.
It should come as no surprise that our country is in this position because of the terrible economic conditions we face, which are rooted in weak leadership from Democrats. Remember, Democrats are in total control at the federal level — House, Senate, and White House — and the Biden-Harris administration is pushing policies that are failing to pull us out of this economic quagmire.
Democrats are fine with raising taxes, increasing spending to drive up inflation, creating endless regulatory burdens driving up the cost of energy, and failing to come up with solutions to ease the supply chain crisis.
Food inflation has not gotten better for any American, especially the Black community since I first wrote about it six months ago.
Carl Alguire, COO of Asheville-based Mother Earth Food said, “Thanksgiving is one of the largest food holidays of the year and most grocery companies are aggressively putting on sale those items that would be on your Thanksgiving table to woo you in to get the dollars for that season. But there is no doubt the prices on many items are higher this year.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statics reported that consumer prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs are up 10.5 %.
Ham will cost you 7.6% more, poultry like turkey, dinner rolls will cost you 4.8% more, apples for apple pie will cost you 6.7% more, cakes will cost you 6.6% more, spices will cost you 4.9% more, and potatoes will cost you 1.7% more.
North Carolina sweet potato farmers know that their product is a staple for many families’ dinner tables as one of the classic dessert items, especially for Black families, and that sweet potato pie will cost a lot more in 2021 because of labor shortages and the cost of fuel.
WRAL reports that “once at the port, it now costs around 80% more to transport the sweet potatoes overseas compared to last year.”
Norman Brown, director of sweet-potato sales for Wada Farms in Raleigh, N.C., is paying truckers nearly twice as much as usual to haul the crop to other parts of the country, saying “I don’t know what the answer is, but in the end it’s all going to get passed on to the consumer.”
While we have so much to be thankful for this year — after all, we do live in the greatest country on the face of this earth — it is sad that for so many, Thanksgiving will be very difficult.
It is not just the fact that one item costs more this year – nearly everything does. Ingredients will cost you more, the fuel to get to the store and back on top of your regular commute will cost you more, the cost to heat your home and the energy needed to cook the food will cost you more, and the products to serve the items will cost you more.
Thankfully, churches, nonprofits and even the Republican National Committee host canned food drives, food banks, and turkey giveaways for those in need. These groups are standing in the gap for so many families. That is the goodness of America in times of crisis, and we are in a series of crises under this Biden-Harris administration.
Those that are unemployed because of Democrats’ forced vaccine mandate might find it hard to feel thankful this year, unable to provide for their families. Single moms who are already stretched thin now see more going out than coming in financially. For them, this thanksgiving is tough.
Biden officials can laugh it off, try to convince us this is temporary, and propose legislation that will increase taxes and make the economic environment worse. But they will soon find out that the people are not with them and deserve better and will get better when the red wave continues, and Republicans are voted in to do things like what Glenn Younkin proposed – eliminating the tax on food at grocery stores.
This Thanksgiving will cost more money, but the time we have with our families and friends is priceless.
We should make sure these elected officials know how much we value our families, communities, homes, jobs, and schools. We deserve better than what we are receiving from the Democrats in power.
Paris Dennard is the National Spokesperson and Director of Black Media Affairs for the Republican National Committee (RNC). Follow him on Twitter: @PARISDENNARD.