NY Times: We’re Eating Less Meat. Why?
Posted on 01/11/2012 8:20:43 PM PST by iowamark
Meat eating in the United States is going out of style. According to a Department of Agriculture report, Americans are projected to eat 12.2 percent less meat in 2012 than they did 2007. And it’s not just the weak economy. As Mark Bittman observes, there’s a real long-term trend here: “Beef consumption has been in decline for about 20 years; the drop in chicken is even more dramatic, over the last five years or so; pork also has been steadily slipping for about five years.”
Why is this happening? The Daily Livestock Report blames rising meat prices in the United States. As countries like China and India get richer, they’re eating more meat, which is helping to drive up U.S. exports and making beef, pork, and chicken more expensive here at home. Ethanol also plays a role: Nowadays, American farmers divert bushels and bushels of corn to make fuel, which drives up feed prices and, again, makes meat pricier.
Perhaps just as significantly, though, it does seem that attitudes toward meat are changing. More and more people appear to be cutting back on beef and pork consumption for environmental or ethical reasons. (Although before vegetarians get too excited, one factor that often gets overlooked here is the aging of the population — as the baby boomers get older, they’ve been eating less meat.)...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
NY Times: We’re Eating Less Meat. Why?
That’s because they can’t afford it when they’re unemployed.
Not this American.
I'm going to say that the single biggest reason is the weak economy.
Great . The more for us.
We don’t really need to eat as much meat as we do and it cost less to eat whole grains, Legumes, beans and veggies.
Still love moo but chicken and fish digest faster and easier.
That is bs. Meat is one of the most important ingredients in a healthy diet.
***Cough***Cough***B**L S**T**!***
“.....as the baby boomers get older, they’ve been eating less meat.)...”
Difficult to chew with what’s left of the ol’ tooth.
That and the fact that ground beef has doubled in price in the last two years. Most of us are probably spending more on meat than ever. We’re just taking home less.
Being a vegetarian means never needing to apologize for being gay, not that there's anything wrong for that.
Don't worry. Us carnivores won't judge you...much.
I’ve been a meat-eating vegetarian for many years.
I agree. But my wife and I are now 66, and we once ate steak about once every three weeks, but now it's every six weeks. As we age, our calorie needs shrink and our protein needs shrink. I think older Americans are eating less meat, but younger Americans are not.
Yes! More for me!
LOL
Wish I could type my response without getting banned.
Oh!
I am a fig plucker,
I pluck figs,
I am the best fig plucker,
That ever plucked figs.
They leave out the meat that hunters put on their tables. I’m thinking that with the economy tanking, more people are taking up hunting to feed their families.
There’s meat on the table pretty much every day of the week in this house. The local pizza place that does 2 large cheeses for $10 once in awhile is the only combo-breaker.
Anyone notice that meat prices are almost double what they were when Obama took office????????????? We gotta feed corn to our cars.
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