
Americans are eating less beef - smb06
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/dining/beef-consumption-emissions.html
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randomdata
Interesting choice of timeframe (2005-2014).

2005 marks the period where we had so much feed that we didn't know what to do
with it all, leading to lots of cattle being raised and relatively cheap beef
products produced as a result. Not knowing what to do with it all, by 2007 we
implemented ethanol subsidies to try and use up some of the excesses. That
helped spur on a huge commodities boom through 2008. Just as that was dying
down, the US suffered a major drought, pushing feed availability and prices
even higher. The result was that from ~2008-2013, especially towards the end,
the number of cattle being raised diminished significantly and that sent the
price of beef soaring to unprecedented levels by 2014.

It would be interesting to see if the trend actually continues through to the
present, or if, now that beef stocks have started to recover, consumption will
go up again.

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jessaustin
Yeah this reminds me of a salebarn-sponsored dinner I attended last year. The
speaker started out by saying "I'm sorry friends, but it won't be as good as
it was last year again in your lifetime!" I think he was a bit pessimistic,
but basing anything on 2014 or 2015 is silly at best and deliberately
misleading at worst.

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AtomicOrbital
Most Americans have never eaten beef grown on a family farm where its grass
fed, no hormones nor antibiotics ... even store bought expensive organic beef
pales in comparison ... family friends own such a wholesome farm and I can say
their beef is incredible and its not even beef cattle its Swiss Brown and
Jerseys which are milk cows ... even beef from high end restaurants is no
match for beef from such a caring gentle farm ... the quality of beef has
suffered greatly in the name of profits due to industrial scale multinationals
who dominate the mass market

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bcook
What's the price difference between industrial beef and the beef from your
friend's farm?

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HeyLaughingBoy
Not the OP, but I've been buying beef from a farmer I know (relative of a
friend) for the last few years. It's grass-fed, high quality beef and I buy
about 250 lbs at a time which lasts us about a year. Total cost per lb
including butchershop costs (cutting into steaks, roasts, grinding, etc.)
averages under $3/lb. Only the cheapest hamburger in the store is available at
that price around here.

The few times I've needed to buy store bought I can instantly taste the
difference.

And now that I'm almost out of beef I'm in the "annoying" position of having
nothing left in the freezer but a few T-bone and ribeye steaks because I hid
some in the bottom last year :-)

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sushid
What part of the US do you live in? I'm looking at at the very least around
$6.50/lb for a half a steer in the Bay Area.

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HeyLaughingBoy
That's insane.

I live outside the Minneapolis metro area. As far as I can tell, he's not
giving me a special price. I buy a quarter; I'm sure a half would be a little
cheaper. It's in line with what I've heard from other people. Bison is a
little more expensive, but not by much.

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bane
It's because the price has risen dramatically leading people to go to
alternate proteins.

Even though I have far more money now than I did 10-15 years ago, I eat far
less beef because it seems that the price has maybe more than doubled. This
tracks in the commodity pricing for beef. In Feb 2002 beef was ~$1/lb at
commodity pricing. Today it's about $1.85/lb. In 2015 it hit a high of
$2.72/lb.

I'm not sure it's a bad thing to be honest. Beef isn't my favorite meat, and
it's definitely not the healthiest protein.

However, chicken prices are way up as well.

On the other hand, pork is very cheap, ~$.70/lb wholesale, and has stayed
pretty steady.

[http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=beef&months...](http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=beef&months=240)

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jandrewrogers
A significant percentage of the US beef herd is raised on range lands where
they are a critical part of the natural ecosystem (replacing bison in that
niche primarily). I have long argued that a moderate reduction in American
beef consumption would allow the demand to be satisfied entirely with
ecologically necessary cattle herds, which I view as a win-win. Ecosystem
stays healthy and people don't have to give up beef entirely.

People tend to focus on feedlot beef but there is also a lot of range beef in
the US. Absolutists on both sides tend to ignore the fact that balanced
ecologically sound options exist.

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Mikeb85
Why not get rid of beef and graze bison? There's wild bison in Canada, as well
as ranched bison. Cattle aren't natural to the ecosystem.

~~~
nikdaheratik
Bison are much harder to manage and haven't necessarily been bred for it as
far as flavor. I've had a few burgers and they're nice, but somewhere between
Venison and Cattle on the gamey scale.

On top of that, there aren't really any wild/purebred Bison as they all had
some mixing with cattle after the herds were pushed to extinction.

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erik998
Also, where did all the USDA prime meat go? I remember being a kid and seeing
USDA prime in every grocery store as the standard meat for sale. Choice/select
was always in a corner... Now when you go into any grocery store, USDA prime
is missing or you need to ask for it. I believe only Costco sells it locally
for me.

~~~
subpixel
Worth noting that prime (and other USDA labels) are a measure of fat content
in the form of marbling - not quality. And certainly not provenance.

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tombert
I've mostly cut out beef from my diet, but that's mostly because chicken is
cheaper and because beef tends to be a bit fattier.

Helping against climate change is a nice bonus all the same.

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undersuit
What's your beef with fat?

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droithomme
I would eat more beef, but the beef I've had in recent years tastes bad to me.

On visits overseas though the beef tastes good, so it's not that my tastes
have changed.

I've pretty much given it up and switched to bison and ostrich, both which are
good. I also think horse is not too bad, but it's not generally available in
the US. I hope none of these become popular though because the factory farming
industry will surely find a way to ruin them as well.

~~~
aidenn0
Have you tried rabbit? It's also hard to find in the US, but it is delicious
if you like lean red meat.

~~~
Animats
I used to go to an SF restaurant that served rabbit, and it was quite good.
Back in 1992, someone set up a fake Bunny Burger franchise as a very elaborate
prank.[1] They were serving ground turkey, not real rabbit. The concept got a
lot of people upset.

I have more objection to eating beef than rabbit. I used to have a horse at a
stable that also had a cow, a big Hereford, that the owner was fattening up.
When I went by the cow, I'd scratch the big white blaze on the face, which the
cow liked. After a few days, the cow recognized me and greeted me with the
lowing sound cows make. I haven't eaten much beef since.

Chicken is fine; chickens are too dumb to worry about.

[1] [https://myriadicity.net/musings-and-
amusements/amusements/bu...](https://myriadicity.net/musings-and-
amusements/amusements/bunny-burgers)

~~~
CuriouslyC
The cow is going to die regardless, if it is treated with kindness and culled
mercifully, where is the wrong?

Ultimately the real crime in my opinion is the industrialized system of
raising animals that is beholden only to the almighty dollar.

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laughfactory
We don't eat much meat at all in our household because it seems like all meat,
beef especially, has become simply too expensive. Ground turkey remains pretty
cheap, so when we eat meat that's pretty much what's for dinner.

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rusabd
The consumption could be cut in half if we start eating the whole animal
again. Eating just muscle tissue is so wasteful.

~~~
Alex3917
Many of the other parts are even more unhealthy though. E.g. you can eat the
skin, and it's considered a delicacy in Ghana and South Africa, but it's not
exactly good for you. Especially when it's doused in poison to keep insects
off the cows.

C.f. these videos on Ponmo:
[https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ponmo](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ponmo)

~~~
rusabd
It would be easier to raise healthier herd with smaller population. Going 100%
would be unrealistic I agree..

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jeffdavis
I don't eat beef as casually any more. It's expensive and often bad.

I do enjoy it at a nice restaurant though. And I don't really avoid it, but I
don't seek it out either.

What makes beef good? How do I find it?

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nikdaheratik
It often depends on people who run the restaurants as anything. They have to
find a good supplier who knows beef and they have to be able to cook it
correctly. Mostly it's about getting a cut that has a good balance of fat and
muscle and cooking it to where it's done, but still tender.

In the case of roasts, mostly it just takes time as even a modest cut can come
out very good if you give it enough time and care.

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Overtonwindow
Beef is expensive. Which is strange considering the factory nature of it, plus
the subsidies on the feed.

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bkjelden
Raising cattle requires a lot of land (both for the cattle themselves and to
grow the feed they eat). Land is a finite resource.

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sethammons
The title feels a bit misleading. Americans are eating less beef because it is
more expensive. As a side effect (not a significant motivator in and of
itself), this is helping the fight against climate change. The increased price
has definitely driven down beef consumption in my house.

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dang
We took "helping fight against climate change" out of the title. Normally we'd
ask the submitter not to editorialize but I suspect this was just NYT up to
its usual title tricks.

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TheGreatPotatoe
This is how Trump got elected.

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dang
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We detached this comment from
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and marked it off-topic.

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toodlebunions
Chicken is better than beef, both in flavor and versatility.

~~~
helthanatos
I prefer chicken enchiladas from some Mexican restaurants and very much prefer
beef enchiladas in others. It depends on the quality and how it's prepared...

