Went to the super giant mega international market today while waiting for our traps to catch some feral cats† for a client. There wasn’t a single whole tissue pork or beef cut for less than $5 a pound. Ground pork was $4.50 a pound. Cow feet were more than $5 a pound.
This makes chicken the only affordable option for making meat based meals for cheap right now.
Once these fertilizer shortages caused by the war in Iran take hold the price for vegetarian meals are going to skyrocket too.
By the midterms things will be way worse than they are now. Time to stock up on rice, beans and pasta. Start that herb garden now so you can flavor your calories.
I planted 200 onions this year. They are already looking great. I might have to start looking at more 18th century recipes. They loved onions.
† no. We are not eating the cats. This is a standard TNR situation. Pulled four kittens that were about two weeks old. One of them was already dead and one wouldn’t have made it through the day without intervention. Fix yo damn pets.
The going rare for duck was about $19 per bird. Figure that an average weight of a meat and that half of it will be bond and it probably does work out slightly cheaper than beef. And you can make stock out of all those bones.
I raised a batch of meat ducks a few years ago. Worked out to about $13 per duck after figuring in feed. But the cost of ducklings has almost doubled since then so today the cost would be about $19 not including labour.
Once we can put together $120 we are going to get some Muscovy and see if we can get some meat production here. Muscovy is the closest to red meat you can get from a yard bird and they are known for going broody, unlike pekins. This will help decrease dependency on an incubator.
Great insight. Thank you!