Meat, including beef, pork, and chicken, is a staple food in countries with more substantial buying power. However, in less fortunate countries, high meat prices are slowly pushing consumers away.
While the vegan movement has shown that people can live without meat, this still only represents a small segment of society. Unfortunately, this means that most of humanity relies on meat.
Why is meat so popular?
Meat has remained a significant source of protein for centuries. Although there are more sophisticated ways to get protein today, for a long time, it was the number one way people added protein to their diets.
There are also social aspects of eating meat where having meat used to be a luxury in the past. This is because of the high price of raising and butchering animals for meat. Even today, there are still some societies that consider meat to be a luxury instead of an absolute necessity.
What higher meat prices mean for buyers
Although people are accustomed to eating meat, many have moved away from more significant meat consumption due to rising prices.
From October 2021 to October 2022, meat prices increased by 16.9 percent. While this might not seem like a lot to some, it can be difficult for meat eaters who may barely be able to afford the increased prices.
The only way to combat this is for the minimum wage to increase so low-income earners can still afford the rising food prices.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that wages and salaries increased by 5.1 percent from September 2021 to the same period in 2022. This means that if a person spent US$500 on meat, it would cost them an average of US$584.50 today to purchase the same quantity of meat.
This is just an average example. The actual situation is much worse in some instances.
What caused the extreme situation
Although the situation has slowly improved since the height of COVID-19, the importation and exportation of meat have been heavily affected.
Due to logistical reasons, meat prices have risen, causing them to be almost unaffordable in some areas.
Since some places rely heavily on the importation of meat, the lack of supply drove the price up.
This resulted in meat becoming almost unaffordable for regular consumers. Instead of meat, some people have been forced to look for more affordable alternatives or vegetables. In many countries, vegetables are much more affordable because they are grown locally.
Meat substitutes
In 2021, it was said that global sales of meat substitutes increased by 70 percent throughout the past decade. A meat alternative or substitute is a food product made from vegetarian or vegan ingredients and eaten as a replacement for meat.
Some people have found the unexpected switch to substitutes worthwhile. While uncomfortable initially, some people have found that switching to plant-based diets has positively affected their health.
Another meat substitute available is processed foods or canned goods, which are not always healthy. However, since some households don’t have a choice, they are left with no other option than to eat processed food or canned goods.
The most critical effect of the increasing price of meat is that people will eat less. In some instances where a culture’s diet is based mainly on meat, the lack of meat would result in less protein consumption.
