Where”s the beef?
My friend Buck and I have wondered what has caused the price of beef to stay so high during these hard times.
Is it supply and demand? Partly, because other countries” middle-class has gained income enough to afford more beef in their diet.
But, another reason may be two-fold. The splitting of our own middle-class into two levels during the past 20 or so years, has something to do with it also.
In the 1950s, we saw the rise of the chuckwagon-style restaurants, offering signature dishes of lobster or prime rib as the draw for their customer base.
Then came the late 1960s, when the signature dish changed to the steakhouse fare.
These meals were affordable to the middle-class, as their once-in-a-while treat or on-the-town meal.
The 1970s brought a wider range of fast food operations. It was, and still is, supported by both levels of the middle-class to this day.
But, the steak or high-on-the-hog cuts are not affordable to the lower middle-class. The problem comes with the lack of use of the lesser cuts of meats ? the roasts and other cuts that take slow cooking and cooking skills to offer at the homefront.
This is because of the now normal two adult working force in our homes. This causes a surplus of ground beef and hamburger to most of us.
Those cuts wind up being ground up if not sold as pricier cuts like they used to be.
During the last 10 years the marketing push in place for the upscale dine-out for the lower and now upper middle-class is the present day hamburger palace offering super-wide ranges of different types of that great old standby, the hamburger. How many years ago would we be comfortable paying for the $11 hamburger without having a gun in our back to do so?
This best points out the fact, that the middle-class wages have not kept up with the times in the last 30 to 40 years.
Our standard of living has fallen in so many different areas, such as food, clothing, family vacations, travel and entertainment fare.
The demonizing of the union workforce has caused this to be, as it was the only voice for fairness the middle-class had.
Our elected leaders have proven to be the lackeys of corporate America and if the middle-class doesn”t champion some sort of representation for their well-deserved needs, the future dine-out treat night might be built around some very unusual parts of cows, hogs and chickens.
Jim Hall
Clearlake Oaks
