Experts say shoppers will have to dish out more for a turkey this year with Thanksgiving only a month away.

"I just feel nothing is getting any easier," says shopper Doreen Cicoleola, of Plainview. She, like many Long Islanders, cringes every time she checks out at the grocery store. Prices she says for certain staples keep rising. But this year, federal analysts are predicting the price of a traditional holiday meal will be going up.

According to the Department of Agriculture, turkey is going up as much as 73% over last year. The reason – inflation at the farm level, plus an increase in the number of birds that became infected with avian flu.

With higher prices, many may turn to food banks for help, but they're seeing challenges as well. Randi Shubin Dresner from Island Harvest says wholesale increases in turkey prices for the food bank to purchase has limited the number of turkeys they can give out this year. She says distributors are limiting their deliveries and are even canceling truckloads of orders.

"We had an aggressive goal of distributing 18,500 turkeys this year, and this year we'll be at 14,500. But we're keeping our fingers crossed," Dresner says.

Back at grocery store in Plainview, shopper Pete Labarbera says with higher prices for food, he'll have to cut back to make ends meet this holiday.

"It definitely is going to have an effect on it. You have to cut back on all avenues, so it's going to be less of a holiday," Labarbera says.

Some food banks, such as Long Island Cares, say they're feeling the turkey pinch as well. They say they'll be looking at more non-traditional meals to give out to make up for the turkey price increases.

Food banks say they hope Long Islanders will step up as they usually do to help their neighbors in need this holiday.