According to the Arizona Farm Bureau, Arizonans who sit down at the Thanksgiving table to dig into the traditional feast this year, the turkey dinner with all the trimmings will cost $44.17 for an Arizona family of 10, or around $4.42 per person. This is an increase of $3.70 or about 9 percent over the 2009 Arizona Thanksgiving meal ($40.47) and 70 cents over this year’s American Farm Bureau survey of $43.47.

Whatever you do, don’t wait until the last minute to do your Thanksgiving shopping. I did that one year and went shopping on a late Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving. I just moved here and thought I would be alone until friends from Calif. called to say they were on their way.

There were two turkeys in the freezer case, one badly smashed in. We didn’t eat turkey on Thanksgiving because the turkey didn’t defrost enough to be cooked. We ate all the trimmings instead and ate the turkey the rest of the weekend. I personally think turkey is overrated but what do I know? Just give me the carcass for soup and I’m happy.

Shop now and shop Tucson for these Thanksgiving deals:

Albertsons
Get a Honeysuckle Grade A frozen turkey for 39 cent/lb (limit 1) with a purchase of $25; will match the front page turkey price of Fry’s, Safeway, Bashas, or Walmart for a grade A frozen turkey; open to 6 pm on Thanksgiving. Yams are 99 cent/lb.

Save time and let Albertsons cook dinner – serves 6 to 8 people – prices ranges from $39.99 to $59.99 for turkey, ham, prime rib with assorted sides. Call 1-877-932-7948.

Fry’s
Jennie O’s Grade A frozen turkey is 29 cent/lb with $25 purchase and VIP card; closes 4 pm on Thanksgiving. Yams are 79 cent/lb.

Fry’s recommends 24 hour notice when ordering turkey or ham dinners serving 6 to 8 people for $44.99 to $59.99.

Safeway
Get your free turkey here. When you spend $100, receive a free turkey up to 16 lbs and spend $150, receive a free turkey up to 22 lbs. Purchases have to be a single transactionand while supplies last. If you spend $25, get a Safeway frozen grade A for 39 cents/lb. Yams are 89 cent/lb with Club card.

Sunflower Markets
Buy a fresh, free range turkey for $1.47/lb while supplies last. Order it now! Open until 4 p..m. on Nov. 25. Yams are 48 cent/lb. That’s a smoking deal because I usually pay $1.29/lb for yams here. I’m stocking up.

Buy your holiday meal here for $44.99 for a whole turkey or glazed dinner serving 6 to 8 people. For a couple with leftovers or to serve 3 or 4, opt for a turkey breast meal with the trimmings for only $28.99. You must order before Nov. 22.

As I was further researching the article, I stumbled on this — Four in 10 people consider marriage obsolete. While not directly related to Thanksgiving, it does demonstrate our changing mores. What are the family values folks going to say about that?

And if you have a vegetarian or two at your Thanksgiving table, instead of making them eat around the meat, consider surprising them with Tofurky.

Don’t forget the homeless and giving some assistance to feeding Arizonans who can’t put food on their table. Fry’s and Fox News 11 are teaming up with a feed the hungry campaign. Check it out.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 19th, 2010 at 9:13 am and is filed under Grocery Stores. Tags for this post: Thanksgiving deals Tucson, Tucson food, Tucson grocery deals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.