Missouri’s Fourth of July cookout events will be cheaper than any of the nation’s four largest regions, according to the state’s largest general farm organization.
Image courtesy of the Missouri Farm Bureau
Missouri Farm Bureau says the average cost of a Fourth of July cookout for ten people in Missouri will be $56.83, which is lower than the national average of $59.50. Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins, who operates a beef cattle operation in western Missouri’s Appleton City, says the annual cookout analysis was done by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).
“And what we’re seeing across the country on average is that food prices for an average American family, cooking out on the Fourth of July, that prices are pretty flat or stable from last year,” Hawkins says.
The menu that Hawkins is referring to includes cheeseburgers, pork chops, chicken breasts, homemade potato salad, pork and beans, strawberries, potato chips and lemonade. It also includes ice cream and chocolate chip cookies, for dessert.
Hawkins tells Missourinet that the cost is a testament to food choices that we have, thanks for Missouri farmers and ranchers.
“You think about the plentiful farmers markets, Missourians can go to the Missouri Farm Bureau website and find a directory of agritourism ventures where they can find fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries, you name it,” says Hawkins.
He also emphasizes the importance of “farm to table”, saying delicious local foods travel shorter distances and keep more money in Missourians’ wallets. Hawkins says local options across Missouri have kept food costs manageable for families.
There’s one other big takeaway from the AFBF’s Fourth of July cookout analysis, and it involves eating habits since the COVID pandemic.
The analysis says that before 2020, 45 percent of food was consumed away from home. However, AFBF says that has changed because of the pandemic. The analysis says almost two-thirds of shoppers nationwide now report cooking and eating at home far more than previous years.
That increase in supermarket demand led to higher retail food prices in both 2020 and in 2021, according to the report.
Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins, which was recorded on July 2, 2021:
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