Since foot and mouth disease is harmless to humans, is the mass slaughter that is going on pushing meat prices to all-time lows, or is paranoia making the prices high?
Well, I am not a Brit, but since I’ve seen all the images of them burning the carcasses, I would imagine that the prices are going up, seeing as how the supply is lower. At the same time, I imagine the demand is lower as well.
Well, dang. I’m not sure. Because if demand drops, then prices usually do to. I think we need a Brit to answer this one.
Meat prices in the UK are already high to start with and the quality is generaly very poor compared to non-european western countries. Pork is the cheapest meat with beef being the most expensive and lamb in the middle. I would not feed my cat on what I have been served up as a nice beef steak. Many people I know who have spent time living in the UK havr either gone vege or cut their meat consuption down considerably.
I personally find the european practice of feeding cows the processed remains of other cows to be discusting.
I have heard that meat is now in short supply with special arangements being needed to shift stock for slaughter. However I guess that imported meat will soon make up the shortfall. As european farming is very inefficient the importation of meat is restricted by EU regulations to protect the local farming industry. It is possible that some tempory lifting of these restrictions my be put into place if the current situation stays the same or gets worse.
The current foot & mouth outbreak does not appear to have had any significant impact on the price of meat in the shops.
Most meat in the UK is sold through the supermarkets, which are dominated by four or five big chains. They have used their monopsony power to keep the price of meat high for the consumer and low for the farmer. A half-pound lamb steak, for example, might cost nearly £2 (~ $3) in the shop, but the farmer will only receive a few pence in some cases for an entire lamb.
The only thing I have in my fridge for reference is a 500g (1lb) pack of lean beef mince, bought to other day for £1.79.
I saw on the news that the US is about to export a lot of beef to England for some nice profit.
The ‘mass slaughter’ is relatively limited at the moment. Meat has always been more expensive within the EC than in the USA. Current average prices would be about £1 ($1.40)per pound for whole chicken, about £4 ($5.60) per pound for supremes; pork roast or cut about £2 ($2.80)per pound, and beef about £3 ($4.20) per pound for a roast and up to £6 ($8.40)per pound for sirloin-fillet end of the range. These are supermarket prices and do not include discounting. I can usually improve on these prices by about 30% by buying regular special offers (just bought 1.65kg- 3.6lb- of chicken supremes for £11- about £3 ($4.20) per pound, or by ordering in moderate bulk from a local butchers (with the advantage of locally killed animals. A local retail outlet of a wholesaler that I visit regularly always has a roast of either lamb, beef or pork plus chicken at half price as a loss leader. I usually buy three or four of these and freeze them or cut them for smaller portions- if you can bone meat yourself, then everything is much cheaper. You can also buy whole and half sides of lamb, and pork and quarters of beef at much reduced prices- but you do need the culinary skills to use up the less attractive cuts of meat. I recently turned beef shin at less than a pound ($1.40) a pound into a wonderful beef casserole- slow cooked for eight hours- tasted like strips of sirloin!
Oh, and by the way, US beef will not be coming to Britain as we ban it because of the growth inducing hormones that are used in the USA. If I could get US corn fed beef, let me tell you, I would buy it!
No shortages apparent, but most pork is coming from Denmark currently.