A Demographic Time Bomb Is About to Hit the Beef Industry

Realclearscience ^ | Dec 22 | Realclearscience

[dfwgator]

Yep.

[daniel1212]

just 12 percent of people surveyed accounted for half of the total beef consumed. People who ate a lot of beef were more likely to be male and aged 50 to 65—roughly correlating with the baby boomer generation.

It is partly another result of contraceptives, and thus loss of culture for bad or good.

In its heyday according to a Boston Globe article dated October 11, 2013, the Hilltop served more than 20,000 customers a week and grossed an estimated $27 million a year. When I was younger I can recall the long lines waiting to get in. In fact I know that I was in those lines a few times over the years. Ironically, Denise and I moved to Saugus 13 years ago this coming December 1st and we actually have not eaten at the restaurant since before we moved from Medford. In recent years due to changing demographics as well as increased competition for the dining dollar, patronage of the restaurant has gone way down.

The Hilltop was opened in 1961 by Frank Giuffrida with seating for 125 patrons. With expansions in the late 1960’s bringing the seating to 1200 with 5 function rooms, it became without a doubt, the largest restaurant in the area with 70,000 sq. ft. A later addition housed the Hilltop Butcher Shop.

https://dinerhotline.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/goodbye-to-hilltop-steak-house/

[orionrising]

chicken and pork are 2-3$ a lb. Beef is 6-20$

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Where I am, NoCal, there are very few steaks better than very lean 90-94% hamburger @ $7-8. I’m pretty resistant to paying $18-$19 lb for a good steak. And the quality even at those high price points is spotty. It’s entirely possible to get a chewy, bland piece of hide, which will piss me off for the evening. If you think you can get something priced in between, much of the time the meat is just vile, you really takes your chances.

[Qiviut]

The last 2 falls I have bought half hogs from a relative who is regenerative farming. The hogs are pastured & get non-soy feed and lead a very different life from commercially raised hogs. The meat is higher quality & very flavorful. It’s not cheap to do this, but I won’t buy grocery store commercially raised pork any more.

[Secret Agent Man]

Almost never eat chicken.

[airplaneguy]

Just bought 21 pounds of ribs eye today for $100.

[Jamestown1630]

My husband has been interested in buying some of the ‘heritage’ pork; I forget the name...

[Secret Agent Man]

True, but for people who don’t eat out, you can still buy meat. You can make meals that last multiple lunches or dinners.

[dfwgator]

We have a lot of Hindus around where I live, and they don’t eat beef.

[Zuriel]

Before the 70s, most farmers in the midwest commonly fed out cattle. A lot had their own beef herds, and would raise them from birth, wean at 7-8 months, putting on full feed after that. I grew up on such a farm, and had my own herd as an adult until age 46, when I got out of farming entirely.

In my trucking career I once drove through the town of Everly, IA, whose high school mascot was the ‘Cattlefeeders’. They had a string of very successful girls basketball teams long ago. That part of Iowa sent a lot of beef to the slaughterhouses.

https://www.hartleysentinel.com/story/2023/07/27/news/remembering-the-cattlefeeders/3164.html

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

I had two bumper stickers that drove the libs at San Francisco State University nuts. Well.....yes...... Liberalism is a Mental Disorder. These bumper stickers just assisted with their ultimate mental disorder.

The first one was:

“I Love Animals, They’re Delicious!

The second one was a great version of PETA

People Eating Tasty Animals.

I kept a supply of Beef Jerky in the car in case I was approached by the wackos.

[Sequoyah101]

Good! That leaves more for me!

We hung a bull last year, 1,200 lbs on the rack! I thought it would be tougher than old army boots but it was and still is good! Marinate a steak long enough and you can make an ear cow tender.

[Myrddin]

It's a plant based meat

What kind of plant?

A meat processing plant.

[Sequoyah101]

I'll add, when I was growing up we got a whole calf every year and put it up at the locker, no freezer back then. I grew up eating lots of beef.

Sure expensive now though. We bought $15,000 worth of hay for this winter, never before. There are cubes and protein and mineral on top of that. It takes about 5 large round bales per cow to winter over. You can feed them well or leave them for the coyotes and buzzards or bury them. This year is mild so far but serious feeding time is coming.

Lots of people sold out this last summer in the drought so you don't see a lot of cows on pasture around here now. We have seen a lot of ground sold to outsiders who won't allow people to graze under the old terms as well. I can see their point but don't like the change to the way things were. Old ways are dying as fast as the old timers. I see lots of houses empty in rural areas now. We will see those unused and maintained pastures go to weeds and brush without mowing and spraying. It is amazing how fast nature takes things back. You also can't believe how expensive and time consuming it is to renovate land. I bought some more this summer and will spend the next two years in an intensive effort to get it back in production and looking nice.

Fourth quarter for me now. Relatively speaking, it won't be long before someone else takes care of this land.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

There is only one animal that worldwide has no religious restrictions against eating it. It’s lamb. Something I learned at trivia.

[Noumenon]

I just saw a good-sized rib roast at Super 1 for $149 and change. That said, we dropped $20 for a roast beast for Christmas dinner.

[Steven Scharf]

It is true, American meat consumption has gone down by 34 million pounds. In 1975 the American population was approximately 214,878,866 (I had to estimate between 1970 and 1980) ate an average of 89 lbs ate 19,124,219,030 lbs.

In 2023 the American population was approximately 334,914,895 ate an average of 57 lbs ate 19,090,149,015 lbs.

A difference of 34,070,015 lbs which is a rounding error when you are talking about billions.

[dfwgator]

But stiil lower average meat consumption is just another sign of the wussification of this country.

[fini]

I am a gray hair. I never cared for beef. I did not dislike it. I just did not consider it worth the price. Then about 20 years ago, a friend gave me a cut of grass fed cow. It was like finding a room that you never knew existed before. I was wonderful. I pay a premium for grass few beef and consider it a good value.