Holy smokes. I was going to make a pot roast and the 7-bone was $7.99 lb, carrots are $1.99 lb. Rib-eye on sale last week $9.99 lb.
My East Coast friends tell me food prices are way high there, as well. I can’t imagine why, unless it is unionized grocery employees.
We routinely see sale rib eye, trimmed and thick-cut, for $5.99. Even seen it for $4.99 on Manager’s Special markdown. Even T-bone and Porterhouse are usually $8.99, although they can go up to $10.00. I just wait until they are in the sale case. Around here, an amazing number of people refuse to pay for a bone-in steak.
If you have a Sam’s Club, you can usually get cryovaced whole muscle cuts for about $1/pound less than pre-portioned cuts. We do this all the time and portion the meat ourselves. You are paying for a lot of poundage, but, OTOH, you have a freezer full of good cuts for months.
I can tell you that right now, our Wisconsin pastures are full of Black Angus steers, so there is no shortage and we have great grass and corn, this year.