Just about everybody in North America used to eat beef by preference. But that once immutable fact has become a fluid statistic in recent years. Rising prices have made beef a luxury that only a few folks still allow themselves…
Take a good long (last?) look at a fully-stocked, beef-dominated supermarket meat case…
Yes, it’s the fruit of yet another economic study. This time, it’s a survey of consumer habits pertaining to what’s happening in the beef market, in particular…
What’s for dinner?
US cattle producers mounted a massive publicity campaign in the 1990s aimed at getting folks focused on beef as their go-to animal protein. The slogan was masterful: “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner!”
Thirty years later, the US Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association still maintain a high-profile web presence at Beefitswhatsfordinner.com.
But I remember a time 30 years before the campaign, when beef was already entrenched as the most popular of the Big 3 meats (beef, pork and chicken), featured in the hallmark meal of the week: Sunday dinner.
Things have changed
Meat prices have skyrocketed – most conspicuously, on beef. That’s thrown the beef industry into a tizzy. And by association, beef-reliant economic sectors, not the least of which is Fast Food. Dare I paraphrase the name of a major FF player in noting that the burger is still king? Alas, for traditionalists, the king is on the verge of being dethroned.
Chicken, specifically in the form of the crispy fried chicken breast sandwich, has been giving beef burgers a run for their money in recent years. All the major Fast Food players, who once competed based on the size and quality of their beef patty-based bun creations have adopted the Chicken Sandwich as a co-standard on their menus. .
Changing family dining habits have also eroded the social relevance of ‘formal’ beef-eating occasions.
So…
Whither beef?
The study digested the results of a number of separate surveys and came up with some shocking – dismaying, to the beef lobby – statistics.
According to The Cool Down: “A study from the scientific journal Nutrients reports that about 12 percent of the population — primarily people aged 50 to 65 and men more generally [than women] — eat half of the country’s burgers, steaks, and other beef products.”
Okay… I was surprised first and foremost by the fact that the burger crowd – younger, more populous and less mindful of ‘red meat dangers’ – were not still the biggest beef eaters.
But it stands to reason that the older folks – Boomers, by and large – should be foremost among those still championing beef. After all, they were brought up on it and have been slow to warm to ‘foreign’ cuisines which place fowl, fish and seafood in the spotlight. Not to mention vegetarian approaches.
My take
We’ve been bombarded by campaigns declaring beef production unsustainable and a leading agricultural source of greenhouse gasses. And the cost of raising and marketing beef has shot the price of what was once the most popular protein in the Western World out of reach for growing numbers of consumers.
The prevailing wisdom holds that as a society we are, in fact, headed for a future in which animal proteins as a class will take second place to vegetable protein sources. The breaking point is variously estimated as falling between 2030 and 2050.
Clearly, the latest beef consumption figures reflect a massive move in that direction. Let’s all get on the bandwagon and make sure we’re not left behind – nutritionally or financially.
~ Maggie J.