High grocery prices don’t appear to be putting a damper on Thanksgiving for most local families, though shoppers are being selective in what they buy.

JaLyn Christensen of Stansbury Park said she had to spend more money on food for Thanksgiving this year than last year, mainly because her family is staying home rather than traveling to relatives. Rising food prices have made her cautious, but she said they won’t curtail her holiday feast.

“I’m definitely watching how much money I spend — more than I did before — but it’s not killing me yet,” she said.

Christensen epitomizes the attitude of most local grocery shoppers, who feel the financial sting of splurging on Thanksgiving but believe the holiday is worth it.

Kristie Breeze of Tooele spent about $60 on Thanksgiving food, which is more than she spent last year, she said.

“There are certain things each year you just can’t skimp on, and Thanksgiving is one of them,” she said. “I can’t buy or spend less because it’s that time of the year when you have to do what you have to do. I’ve noticed that pies have really been in demand this year, and they were the one food item I really splurged on for Thanksgiving this year. I’ve also noticed that pretty much everything in the store has gone up in price.”

Grocery prices in Utah seemed to have been the hardest hit over this summer. According to the Wells Fargo Consumer Price Index released in September, the cost of groceries increased 4.9 percent from July to August along the Wasatch Front, compared with only 0.7 percent nationally. Wasatch Front grocery food prices also jumped 10.2 percent from March to September this year, while grocery food prices nationwide jumped 4.3 percent over the same six-month time period.

Liz Copeland, of Tooele, said she will be the primary cook for her feast, which will include more family than last year. She said shopping strategies have helped her cope with high food prices.

“Prices have gone up, but the store I go to is doing a good job at keeping things down where they should be,” she said. “If you buy store brands instead of what you would normally buy, you can really save that way too.”

Dianne Ortega, of Tooele, said she hasn’t tried to watch how much she spends on Thanksgiving food this year, primarily because it is a time of year when people try to have enough food available. She said she spent a higher amount of around $100 this year, even though other family members had bought the turkey for their feast.

“Thanksgiving is a big event that comes only once a year, so what can you really do when it comes to shopping?” Ortega said. “Luckily, we’ll have our kids cook half of the food for Thanksgiving, including the turkey. Everyone was telling me to get a turkey as soon as possible, because I guess turkeys went really fast this year.”

Sharon Harden, from Grantsville, said she bought more Thanksgiving food this year and spent more money on it as well. She believes Grantsville food prices are less expensive than those in Tooele.

“After shopping in Tooele last night, I wish I would have come back home to Grantsville,” Harden said. “The economy is indeed hurting us and food is costing more. I find that even going in and buying fresh vegetables has cost me more money. Everything at the grocery store is higher this year.”

However, Pamela Brunson, of Tooele, said that as a single mom, she had been watching how much money she spent for Thanksgiving. She said she has also spent around $60 on Thanksgiving food and tried to use coupons for things she needed.

“Luckily, I have fewer people coming for Thanksgiving, so I was able to buy food in smaller quantities this year,” Brunson said. “To save money I tried to make my own food instead of buy already-made stuff like pies. I’ve noticed that the turkeys are higher in price this year, and I have been trying to watch for deals and discounts while I shop.”

Barbara Vogel, who moved to Tooele from Nebraska in July, will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for just herself and her husband. She looks for specials on certain items, but said overall, Utah grocery prices are something to be thankful for.

“Meat may have been cheaper in the small town in Nebraska that I moved here from, but things such as milk are much cheaper here in Tooele,” she said. “For me, $2.19 for a gallon of milk is wonderful.”

Paul Coletta, store director for Albertson’s in Tooele, said that even with the rush of people his store’s stocks have not run short. He also said that organic food has been more popular for Thanksgiving this year.

“It’s been a pretty regular Thanksgiving shopping season for us,” Coletta said. “Nothing has really been that much more expensive, and we haven’t been running out of anything. We will also be open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.”

Jordan Resch, manager of Maceys Food and Drug, said Maceys won’t close until 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

“We were running low on hams, which were pretty high in demand for us, but we just got some more of them in today,” Resch said. “We’ve actually been stocked pretty well with everything here, and we haven’t seen any drastic price decreases on Thanksgiving food items.”

Soelberg’s Market in Grantsville will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Tooele will be open for 24 hours on Thanksgiving Day.

Like all grocery shoppers, Vogel holds out hope that food prices will go down soon.

“The cost of food is a little bit higher than it was last year, and people are still blaming food transportation costs for the reason why,” she said. “However, as the price of gas continues to go down, maybe the food prices will start to as well.”

Doug Radunich: dougrad@tooeletranscript.com