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Americans are eating less and less meat
Washington Post ^ | 01/11/2012 | Brad Plumer

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
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To: Smokin' Joe

My favorite pulled pork place’s motto: You don’t need teeth to eat our meat!


61 posted on 01/12/2012 12:36:07 AM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: mass55th

Supermarket meat is outrageously expensive. Particularly beef and some cuts of lamb. I’m sure that’s why Americans are eating less meat (if the story is true, by the way).


62 posted on 01/12/2012 3:07:34 AM PST by miss marmelstein
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To: Persevero
Remember that if your beef cuts are tough and stringy - slow cook them. That should help with tenderizing.
63 posted on 01/12/2012 3:11:57 AM PST by miss marmelstein
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To: iowamark

“Why is this happening”

I’m not so sure that some of this isn’t due to people waking up to the antibiotics and hormones that producers are putting into the food supply.


64 posted on 01/12/2012 5:02:28 AM PST by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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To: iowamark

More for me! WhooHoo!


65 posted on 01/12/2012 5:05:29 AM PST by Marie Antoinette (Proud Clinton-hater since 1998.)
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To: writer33

Amen. We’re looking for cheap, fatty meats to serve as flavoring while I’m out of work.


66 posted on 01/12/2012 8:13:30 AM PST by GAB-1955 (I write books, serve my country, love my wife and daughter, and believe in the Resurrection.)
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To: shibumi

Indeed.


67 posted on 01/12/2012 8:46:57 AM PST by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list)
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To: Vendome
Wish I could type my response without getting banned.

I pluck figs...

Thanks for having a sense of humor! It's rare yet refreshing!

68 posted on 01/12/2012 3:17:37 PM PST by Grizzled Bear (No More RINOS!)
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To: iowamark
It's the price!


69 posted on 01/12/2012 3:22:22 PM PST by Poser (Cogito ergo Spam - I think, therefore I ham)
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To: Vendome

Here’s how I heard it in the 1960’s.

I’m not a fig plucker nor a fig plucker’s son
but I’ll keep plucking figs ‘till the fig plucker comes.


70 posted on 01/12/2012 3:25:04 PM PST by Poser (Cogito ergo Spam - I think, therefore I ham)
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To: Poser

OMG!

Now I have to remember another one for drinking games.

LOL


71 posted on 01/12/2012 4:09:13 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: shibumi; Markos33; JoeProBono; Slings and Arrows; TheOldLady; humblegunner; Eaker; Allegra; ...

I don’t eat that! I’m ovovegelactomaniacaletorialeggtarian and if you’re not then shame on you!


72 posted on 01/12/2012 7:01:24 PM PST by 50mm (Trust nobody and you'll never be disappointed.)
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To: iowamark

High unemployment tends to do that to people, yet, farmers and ranchers everywhere will still vote Democrap.


73 posted on 01/12/2012 7:07:02 PM PST by CodeToad (Islam needs to be banned in the US and treated as a criminal enterprise.)
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To: 50mm; shibumi; Markos33; Slings and Arrows; TheOldLady; humblegunner; Eaker; Allegra

74 posted on 01/12/2012 7:18:06 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas gerit)
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To: JoeProBono

I have a sudden urge for baba ghanoush.


75 posted on 01/12/2012 7:22:50 PM PST by 50mm (Trust nobody and you'll never be disappointed.)
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To: 50mm

“I have a sudden urge for baba ghanoush.”

Is that what Danny Thomas used mention in his great old show?


76 posted on 01/12/2012 7:25:35 PM PST by Mears (Alcohol. Tobacco. Firearms. What's not to like?)
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To: iowamark
Meat eating in the United States is going out of style.

Some people paid money today to read this crap.
77 posted on 01/12/2012 7:26:44 PM PST by Vision ("Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?" John 11:40)
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To: Mears

Possibly. Danny Thomas’s parents were from Lebanaon.


78 posted on 01/12/2012 7:31:53 PM PST by 50mm (Trust nobody and you'll never be disappointed.)
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To: martin_fierro

I bet BACON MAN could even defeat Chuck Norris!


79 posted on 01/13/2012 10:35:00 AM PST by Constitution Day
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