April 24, 2022

"Although US consumption of beef fell from about 80 pounds annually per capita in the 1970s and early ’80s to a low of 54 pounds in 2017, it’s steadily rebounded since then to 58.6 pounds in 2021."

"Yes, we are eating more beef today than we did five years ago, despite plant-based 'Impossible' meat and Beyond Burgers taking over American menus and even McDonald’s."

The NY Post reports.

65 comments:

rhhardin said...

I've eaten Morningstar burgers for years. Not as a substitute but as a thing in its own right. Convenient, easily nuked to get one, distinct and various varieties. Boca burgers tend to all be grey meat genre, indistinguishable.

Food science matters.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Vegetarians who insist on impersonating meat to win converts to their religion! It ain’t working. Impossible burgers are not good and not healthy. They are complicated processed food masquerading as “meat” to fool the occasional dupe into “trying” vegetarianism. Somehow it reminds me of the gay guy who changed sex thinking the cute straight guys would like “her” more. Same people. Same psychosis. Different issue.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

OK then maybe it worked with Rhhardin. Who else?

Lurker21 said...

Beef is a treat.

Beef is the new ice cream.

Who doesn't like ice cream every now and then?

Joe Smith said...

I guess somebody figured out where the beef is...

Critter said...

Science is against veganism unless you believe that human DNA has changed from what it has been for the entire approximately 5 billion years or so of pre- and current Homo sapiens. What is it about the elites that causes them to embrace ideas as if they are a religion?

‘When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.” G.K. Chesterton

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I'm only guessing - I think it's because of the much advertised weight loss connection to eating more protein and cutting carbs.

Gahrie said...

Personally I'd like to eat more pork. How do I get McDonald's to start selling the McRib year round?

TomHynes said...

We are steadily eating more animal protein. Chicken went from 50 pounds/capital to 110 from 1970 to now. We figured out how to produce chicken cheaply. This link was embedded in the NY Post article. https://aei.ag/2021/04/05/u-s-meat-consumption-trends-beef-pork-poultry-pandemic/

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I stay away from cheap meat.

It tastes terrible and was probably produced with max cruelty.

mezzrow said...

My immediate reaction is to want to conjure up a chart of this by year and compare it to the same chart for beer. Lots of overlap in that market. One little letter.

The things our brains make us think...

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

My favorite fake meat product brand is "Gardein"
The sweet and sour porkless bites are delicious.

I steam some veg on the side - zucchini, carrot sometimes broccoli - then add it.
Cook some rice... yum.

Wa St Blogger said...

It's funny. None seems to want to make a meat that tastes line and has the texture of cauliflower. And no meat substitute can account for the burnt ends of a tri-tip steak.

RNB said...

Does the article mention any other trends in meat / animal protein consumption? If it compares only beef and fake beef, it's a false dichotomy. Possibly people are eating less beef because they're eating more pork, chicken and fish.

Enigma said...

Cynically, people tried Impossible Beef and similar and this caused the to appreciate real meat all that much more. They thereby increased their meat consumption. The law of unintended consequences strikes again?

James K said...

I guess I'm part of the trend: I've adopted a moderate version of the Paleo diet and eat meat 5-6 times week, mostly red meat, sometimes chicken. All my "numbers" improved (cholesterol, A1C, etc.). I do eat those Morningstar fake things now and then: Just for variety (I'm allergic to fish and seafood) and because my wife's doctor tells her not to eat so much meat and she listens to him and not to me. I almost never eat vegan. If not meat then lots of cheese and eggs.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I've tried all of the fake beef brands. One brand if creepy how closely resembles real cow meat. it bled like real beef. how did they do that?
tasted OK as a burger. Not something I crave. However, I made meatloaf with the fake beef, and it worked well. Tasty with some garlic mashers on the side.

Coconuss Network said...

I'm a dinner for breakfast person. If that means entrecôte - yeehaw!!

lonejustice said...

With the price of beef in the grocery stores now, I am curious whether this trend will continue.

Harsh Pencil said...

I have moved to eating a lot more pork and less chicken and beef (but still a lot of both). Have about 5lbs of pork shoulder on my bbq egg thing right now, slow smoking for about 8 hours, to become pulled pork.

Pork is very tasty, and as long as you don't get too lean cuts, it's not fragile. It's much easier to screw up beef or chicken. I've basically given up on beef brisket, which when done right is fantastic, because it's just too hard (at least for me) to get it right.

Original Mike said...

As an insulin resistant person, my blood glucose and lipid levels are way, way, way, way better on meat than on plants. I have the data to prove it.

Michael K said...

The "Food Pyramid" led to the great type II diabetes epidemic. Now, that sanity is coming back, the Biden handlers have beef up 50%. Inflation is now over 10% and interest rates are at 6%. Congratulations, Democrats.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

America needs to eat more bison.

Readering said...

Don't eat fake meat for same reason I don't eat margarine and drink decaf. Just cut back. But do think in 100 years folks will look back at our husbandry practices and wonder, how could they? But maybe if they try a rare sirloin....

Wince said...

I blame Sam Elliot's voice.

"Do you see where I'm going with this? Beef: it's what's for dinner."

jaydub said...

I am very much in favor of a plant based diet. The Angus steer that produced the steak I had last night was on one all his life and the meat was delicious.

Rabel said...

I'm thinking the author got a few free meals for the publicity he gave the restaurants.

$85 for that little piece of veal?

Also, his data is at least a year old. At today's prices it's hard to believe beef consumption is up over last year. The reduction in shelf space for beef products is a good indicator.

Christy said...

Those of us who've survived an estrogen fed cancer have been warned against eating soy based products. I've learned some deli meat is fortified with soy! It's everywhere.

Not sure, but hasn't beef always been pricier than chicken or pork? And the last time I looked, McDonald's sold more chicken than beef in some areas of the country. We've been trained away from beef.

Christopher B said...

TomHynes said...
We are steadily eating more animal protein. Chicken went from 50 pounds/capital to 110 from 1970 to now. We figured out how to produce chicken cheaply.


So cheap that most people don't understand why 'a chicken in every pot' would be an indicator of prosperity before that.

John Althouse Cohen said...

That's a skewed reading of cherry-picked statistics in a tabloid rant. For one thing, he claims to know what happened in "2021," yet the only thing he links to is an article published in early 2021 (April 5)! That article presents the facts more fairly. The general trend with beef has been declining consumption for 50 years, but with some plateaus and fluctuations. Pork consumption has been generally constant, while poultry consumption has gone way up. So the main trend with meat seems to be poultry replacing beef.

Browndog said...

I buy ground chuck in bulk, 15 lbs at a time. Yesterday it was $60. 4 months ago in was $44.

Yes, I'm going to eat my meat, eat my eggs, drink my whole milk, and ignore government "science" that tells me all things I know are naturally healthy are the most unhealthy.

Enjoy your soy, kale, bugs, and laboratory meat.

Michael said...

58 pounds of beef per person per year. In 1940, US per capita consumption of beef, pork, chicken, fish combined was just 52 lbs/year.

We truly became insanely rich.

rcocean said...

Meat prices are going though the roof, and no one in the MSM seems interested in explaining why nor is Biden doing anything to bring them back down.

Jaq said...

Beef has to be the most humanely raised. They live their lives pretty much as they always have, except they get slaughtered instead of eaten alive by lions. Veal is another matter, of course.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

One of my favorite memories is from flying into Omaha from Boston at Christmas in the early 1980s. One young woman on the flight was coming home for the holidays after spending several months working as an au pair in Connecticut. Her family was waiting when she came of out the gate. As she reached out her arms for the big family hug, she shouted, “Take me to a steakhouse!”

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

"...despite plant-based 'Impossible' meat and Beyond Burgers taking over American menus and even McDonald’s."

Yes, it is (trigger warning!) rare to find actual animal protein available at any restaurant these days. I miss the "beefts" (bovine steaks processed to resemble beets in taste and appearance) and "turknips" (immitation turnips made from highly processed turkey breast).

Old and slow said...

rhhardin said...
"I've eaten Morningstar burgers for years. Not as a substitute but as a thing in its own right."

I haven't had those in years, but I ate them by the hundreds when I was a teen in the 1980's. And I was no vegetarian by any means. They are burger shaped, but not trying to emulate meat.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

My Nebraska born cousin-in-law told me that most cow meat sold to fast food is filled with hormones that can cause early puberty. She also swears McDonald's meat spikes strange mood patters.

I'm not anti meat. I'm anti industrial/ cruel mass meat production. How to feed billions? Cruel mass meat production.
Ideally, be nice if we could get back to more respectful ways. If I do buy meat, I only buy from local sources and smaller farms. The best meat is the kind you get from a local hunter.

JAORE said...

"...despite plant-based 'Impossible' meat and Beyond Burgers taking over American menus and even McDonald’s."

Sure. If by "taking over" you mean a very few options out of a full menu.

I've been asking for years why no one ever tries to get meat to taste like vegetables. Could it be meat tastes good.

FWIW there are some anthro types that credit meat eating for the rapid evolution of our very early ancestors.

Browndog said...

I'm not anti meat. I'm anti industrial/ cruel mass meat production. How to feed billions? Cruel mass meat production.

Hard pressed to find anyone pro industrial/cruel mass meat production. Mind you, we are not just feeding Americans, we are feeding nations that can no longer feed themselves due to our intervention, and their populations have exploded.

Fortunate I hunt, fish, grow, live where there are multiple free range cattle ranches, and the Amish to fill any void.

Killing an animal to eat is one of the most uncomfortable things in life. But, life it is. The sanitized world people live through their iPhone doesn't exist.

madAsHell said...

Isn't there an element of demographics here??

I'm not against red meat, but I just can't eat a huge steak anymore......cuz I'm Too Damn Old. I have to lean on chicken, and fish.

I'm guessing that most baby boomers pushing 70 years can't eat a huge steak. Of course, if you wanna have a Bill Gates body.......

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Brown-dog - mass meat production is, mostly, very cruel. You don't have to be for or against it. It just is.

eee.
Now I'm craving a gooey juicy cheeseburger.

Ann Althouse said...

"I'm not against red meat, but I just can't eat a huge steak anymore......cuz I'm Too Damn Old. I have to lean on chicken, and fish."

Why not eat a small steak? That's what I do. I think there's something distinctly nourishing in beef. I don't eat much, but I need some. Fish and chicken aren't terribly appetizing to me (unless deep fried).

Original Mike said...

"I'm guessing that most baby boomers pushing 70 years can't eat a huge steak."

My wife and I share a steak.

David-2 said...

Lots of eateries - fast food, sit-down, take-out - here in Seattle have little stickers by the door promoting the availability of "Impossible" meat or "Beyond Burgers" meat. I'm always glad to see it promoted.

Prevents me from making the mistake of opening the door and going in.

Aggie said...

"...despite plant-based 'Impossible' meat and Beyond Burgers taking over American menus and even McDonald’s."

Taking over American menus?? Did Al Gore write this story? Would he care to produce the sales figures that back this up? Imitation meat is imitation delicious. But it certainly ain't taking over any meat cases where I shop, in fact, when the selves go empty in COVID / hurricane shipping frenzies, the only displays that remain full, surrounded by empty shelves, are the imitation meats. Yeah, they're real popular. Even starving people prefer anything else.

BUMBLE BEE said...

I recall that some fast food restaurants used "Utility" grade beef, which was the lowest grade FDA set for human consumption. A friend's father had a saying "fat is flavor". That takes time and corn. E85 fuel diverted a lot of corn from the feedlot. A well marbled steak on a high temp charcoal grill for me! Alternately I'll settle for a Carolina pulled pork sammich with coleslaw.
BTW, abused animals meat gets ruined by the hormones generated by the abuse.

Narayanan said...

tim in vermont said...
Beef has to be the most humanely raised. They live their lives pretty much as they always have, except they get slaughtered instead of eaten alive by lions. Veal is another matter, of course.
==========
are you saying lions turn up noses when presented veal?

Mikey NTH said...

Humans are omnivores.

Change My Mind.

(Insert meme picture here.)

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Can of Cheese for Hunter: "Now I'm craving a gooey juicy cheeseburger."

Me too! We have a place here makes "Extra Juicy Hamburgers!" I go there often in the summer after a day of yard work for a 32 oz. super-size mug of chilled hamburger juice.

Browndog said...

Food shortages are inevitable this fall. No worries, it'll only affect the poor. Already bread lines in some countries. Fertilizer/potash costs give way to shortages. Grain exports already banned in China, don't look to Ukraine/Russia to fill any void.

Meanwhile, Biden announced coming food shortages. His plan is to put more corn in your gas tank. The man's a genius.

Old and slow said...

Actually goose is far and away the most humanely raised animal. They simply do not respond to battery farming or close quarters. So, eat more goose. It's good for the gander, or something... .

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

"chilled hamburger juice"... OK -that killed my craving. Thank you, Hammond X.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

little boy chicks - they are useless so the get slaughtered - crushed via conveyor belt.
well - for the mass produced chicken.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

My grandfather liked his meat rare. If anyone asked him how rare he'd say "just chase it around the pasture a bit."

Gahrie said...

So cheap that most people don't understand why 'a chicken in every pot' would be an indicator of prosperity before that.

It's weird to think that at one time chicken was a rich man's meat, and lobster was fed to the poor and prisoners.

Maynard said...

I was a vegetarian for a few years back in the mid-70's. It was a very expensive and time consuming hobby, but I felt physically good. However, I just could not keep it up.

Since then, I consume all types of protein, including beef, fish, chicken, beans, etc. Everything in moderation seems to work best for me. It also helps to cook your own food and stay away from fast food restaurants - helps the budget and the belly.

Many younger vegans have no idea what they are doing to their bodies. If you can afford the time and money for non-meat protein, that's fine, but most cannot. It seems to be more about virtue signaling among the young.

Narayanan said...

Browndog said...
Food shortages are inevitable this fall. No worries, it'll only affect the poor. Already bread lines in some countries. Fertilizer/potash costs give way to shortages. Grain exports already banned in China,
-----
Xi-na has also banned cooking oil exports.

madAsHell said...

I don't eat much, but I need some.
I'm told it's an excellent source of iron.

Fish and chicken aren't terribly appetizing to me (unless deep fried).
Chicken Fried Steak. I enjoyed it, but then it put me on the sofa. Multiple times.

I know these are fightin' words, but Chicken Fried Steak is the only fried food I avoid......Well, that's not true. I'm not going out of my way for fried okra either.

iowan2 said...

Food is never going to be cheap like it used to be. Food has always had a very small part of our living expense budget. Now it is a larger part of that pie chart. Most likely continue to grow.

A big driving force is Government Regulation. Please don't read that to mean no regulation. But a focus on appropriate regulation would increase competition. The largest lobbists to the Dept of AG are the existing meat packers. New startups are challenged to over come regulatory hurdles. Massive regulation is cheaper as you scale up. Killing 1000 beef a day, is not as big a regulatory burden as the packer that kills 300 a day.

Breezy said...

Humans need to human. You can fake some things, but not meat.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“Why not eat a small steak? That's what I do. I think there's something distinctly nourishing in beef. I don't eat much, but I need some. Fish and chicken aren't terribly appetizing to me (unless deep fried).”

Same here. Not in any way a vegetarian but large pieces of meat have zero appeal for me. Give me a small, quality, expertly-prepared steak. It’s almost impossible to find a restaurant hamburger that isn’t oversized. When I have a burger jones, I get a couple of the small, old-school, McD’s burgers with Mac sauce. I could easily live without meat, if I had too. Cheese and eggs are far more essential.

~ Gordon Pasha said...

I’m seeing Joe Biden “I did this stickers” in the meat section of Costco.

farmgirl said...

Iowan2: all so true.
Our beef is raised humanely, organically and w/a name. Usually a cow crossbred w/a beef. Usually Angus. I think our tech has Wagyu so we’ll probably try that, too. We have to be careful- some beef breeds throw offspring w/bigger heads! Not fun. Especially for the cow.

I saw my 1st fake meat burger while shopping on Friday. I don’t buy beef at the store so idk what all propelled me to look. It was a weird feeling to see “plant based material” manipulated to look like a hamburger.

Bon appetit!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

My sister in law used to work at a famous local hotdog-hamburger joint.

This was decades ago... but whatever it was she saw/experienced while working there - she stopped eating all red meat. To this day does not eat red meat. At holiday time, while we sometimes partake in the eating of roast beast, she sits there with her turkey breast.