Here's a look at the cost to buy a Thanksgiving turkey in Ottawa

Thanksgiving is only days away, a time for family and friends to come together, which usually includes a feast. However, when we're talking about turkey, the price is flying high, and so are most of the Thanksgiving meal fixings.

Anna Fourny has been hunting for deals all week, ahead of hosting and preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for her family.

"It will be eight of us altogether and I’m doing all the work to give everyone a break. I’m retired, so I have a bit more time on my hands," Fourny says. "I’m a bargain shopper; when I know it’s a good price and I’ll go to every different grocery store."

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Fourny says her family feast is costing around $200, but she also admits that many of the side dishes and the desserts are being made from scratch, which saves on cash.

But overall, most food items cost far more than in years past, especially the main dish for many, turkey. The cost of a turkey is up nearly 20 per cent over last year. 

"Oh yeah, you feel the pinch and the prices vary from store to store greatly. Let's say a Butterball Turkey, it can be a great difference from one store to another. I got mine at Metro; it’s 14 pounds and it was just over $30."

Fourny saved a few bucks by buying early.  On average, grocery stores are selling frozen turkeys for around $5 per kilogram. However, for a high-quality, farm-fresh bird, expect to pay nearly triple the cost.

"Fresh is the best; it’s juicier and more tender," says Chantel Balla, co-owner of Around The Block Butcher Shop. "Our prices have remained about the same from last year but definitely bigger turkeys have been ordered this year. The big turkeys are a big hit."

The butcher shop is selling hundreds of fresh turkeys, mostly pre-orders. The largest birds, 11 kg., cost $155 and are already sold out.

Inflation continues to push up the price of food, but Sylvain Charlebois, food distribution and policy professor with Dalhousie University, says rising interest rates are working and the cost of goods are levelling out.

"I mean in the last three-four months you’ve seen the rate of inflation drop, so we are expecting that gap between inflation and food-flation to get to zero by February or March," Charlebois says. "What we’re seeing right now is people are buying less food in volume in Canada; this means that people are wasting less. So if you’re buying a 15 pound turkey this weekend. you’re going to eat it all. People are much more frugal and more creative with left overs."