Cost of Thanksgiving in Villages Much Higher than Kodiak City

Marina Cummiskey and Jay Barrett/KMXT

You may have heard the AP wire story this week that pegs Kodiak as number three on the list of communities with the most expensive Thanksgiving Day dinners in the nation. It ranks Hilo, Hawaii as the most expensive at $79.11, Honolulu at $76.73, and Kodiak at $65.12, just five cents above Juneau.

Of course, the survey published by the website Nerd Wallet only compared prices in 264 communities across the nation, and they obviously didn’t get any surveyors out rural Alaska, where the cost can be much, much higher.

The findings were based on a study by the American Farm Bureau which compared prices in the selected communities for all the fixins, including turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a tray of carrots and celery, as well as pumpkin pie with whipped cream, coffee and milk. The largest price increases this year were for sweet potatoes, dairy products and pumpkin pie mix, according to the Farm Bureau.

Last year, KMXT news intern Marina Cummiskey traveled to Karluk and found out what it costs and what it takes to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner there. Let’s listen to that again.