In her article “Businesses, Customers Impacted by Rising Meat Prices” (GT, 9/3) Johanna Miller discusses the adverse effect Covid-19 is having on local meat production. While Covid-19 caused a surge in price increase in meat, as well as almost everything over the last (almost) two years, the prices of meat have been declining for years. Meat consumption began dropping in the late 1970s due to scientific research pointing to long-term health issues, such as heart disease, diabetes, pneumonia, etc. That being said, the consumption of plant-based meats has increased 27% in the last year. The cost of meat production is also much higher than its plant-based counterparts. As someone who has worked as a manager in a local grocery store with a full butcher counter, I’ve seen all these factors aid in the cost of meat, particularly beef, skyrocketing.
While Covid did have a negative impact on the production, distribution and sales of meat in the United States, claiming that the coronavirus is the sole factor causing prices to increase in the meat industry is a bit of a stretch. I think this article would be much more beneficial to the general public if these areas were taken into consideration.
Jennifer Scully
Santa Cruz
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