Rising Tariffs Push Thanksgiving Food Prices Higher, Say U.S. Farmers

As families across the United States prepare for Thanksgiving, the cost of the holiday meal is becoming a growing concern-not just for shoppers, but for the people who produce the food itself. On November 25, farmers, grocers, and business owners joined a press call to share a unified message: tariffs ranging from 10% to 50% on imported inputs are significantly increasing production costs, raising prices for Thanksgiving staples while putting pressure on farms, food suppliers, schools, and American households.

With the average tariff rate now reaching 16.8%-the highest since 1935-industry experts say the effects are rippling through every layer of the food supply chain.

Imported Inputs Become a Heavy Burden for Small Farms

For diversified vegetable farms, rising costs start long before food reaches the grocery store shelves. At Red Scout Farm in western North Carolina, owner Mary Carol Dodd describes how dependent her farm is on imported materials from Canada, Mexico, andChina-items like greenhouse coverings, insect netting, tools, packaging, and the produce bags used for CSA boxes.

“When the price of everything it takes to grow vegetables goes up-from soil to tools to fertilizer, packaging, transportation-then the vegetables on the holiday table go up as well,” Dodd explains.

For a small, diversified farm operating on already thin profit margins, these rising costs force difficult decisions: either raise prices or cut expenses, sometimes at the cost of fair wages for workers.

To stay afloat, Dodd has already increased prices on collard greens and kale by 50% and raised the price of mixed-lettuce bags by 50 cents. Even small price increases, she notes, directly impact families’ grocery bills.

“For farmers, every new cost and every layer of uncertainty make it harder to keep going,” she says. “We should be making it easier for family farms to survive, not harder-especially heading into a season when families rely on affordable fresh produce.”

Grain Farmers Face a Two-Sided Squeeze

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Grain farmers are feeling the pressure as well. Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, describes how tariffs raise costs on essential inputs like fertilizer and equipment while simultaneously lowering the market prices farmers receive for selling their crops.

“When you put tariffs on things, all that does is raise the price on the things that farmers need, and it lowers the price of the things that farmers sell,” Levendofsky says.

Grains like wheat, corn, and soybeans have an extensive downstream impact on Thanksgiving food prices:
Wheat is used for rolls, pie crusts, and stuffing.
Corn and soybeans feed turkeys and livestock, driving up meat prices.

Fertilizer and fuel, essential for growing potatoes and green beans, are spiking, affecting mashed potatoes, casseroles, and other staples.

Levendofsky notes that the National Farmers Union’s annual pre-Thanksgiving report shows farmers receive only pennies of each retail food dollar. For example:

A $2.99 bag of cranberries gives the farmer 18 cents.
A $4.49 pack of dinner rolls returns just 9 cents to the wheat grower.
A $2.49 bag of green beans nets 62 cents for the farmer.
A $6.99 bag of Russet potatoes gives only 94 cents.
For a $12.98 boneless ham, the farmer receives $1.58.
Turkey farmers get just 6 cents per pound for a turkey that sells at retail for $2.49 per pound.

“Every added cost in the supply chain eventually shows up at the checkout line,” Levendofsky says. “Tariffs stack up on top of already high input costs, and families end up paying more for the same ingredients they bought last year.”

Tariffs Strain Food Banks, Schools, and Essential Institutions

The impact of tariffs extends well beyond farms and grocery stores. Colin Tuthill, president of Royal Food Corporation, which supplies supermarkets, restaurants, hospitals, prisons, and half of the Feeding America food banks, says tariffs are creating impossible choices for organizations already struggling to keep up with demand.

“Placing a tariff or a tax on any kind of food item makes absolutely no sense to me,” Tuthill says. “We’re raising the price of food for the most in need.”

Because food banks and school districts operate on fixed budgets, higher food costs force them to:
Purchase fewer items
Choose cheaper, lower-quality foods

Reduce portion sizes

Hospitals and prisons face similar challenges, all of which ultimately harm the people who depend on these meals.
“What we’re talking about is fewer items being sold to food banks, smaller portions in school cafeterias, lower-quality products, and higher grocery prices for families shopping for their Thanksgiving meal,” Tuthill explains.

A Growing Concern for the Thanksgiving Table

Across the food system-from local produce farms to grain elevators to food distributors-the message is clear: tariffs are raising the cost of nearly every item on the Thanksgiving table. Fresh vegetables, potatoes, salad mixes, green beans, turkey, ham, dairy, dry goods-all are affected as production costs climb and margins shrink.
Small farmers, in particular, warn that stability is crucial to keeping communities fed.

“We need stability and fairness, not more uncertainty that threatens the people working hardest to feed their neighbors,” Dodd says.
For families gathering around holiday meals, the stakes are high. But for the growers and suppliers who support America’s food system, industry representatives say the stakes are even higher.

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