Cost of meat

RHemmings

I've been vegan since the mid 1990s, so am not in touch with the cost of meat.

However, they keep having that Lidl add on television, saying that you can buy two filet steaks at M&S for £12.

£12!?!?!?!?!? For two steaks? £6 each?

I've actually checked on Sainsbury's, and these prices aren't exceptional. http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/meat-fish/steak#langId=44&storeId=10151&catalogId=10123&categoryId=276044&parent_category_rn=13343&top_category=13343&pageSize=36&orderBy=FAVOURITES_FIRST&searchTerm=&beginIndex=0&hideFilters=true

Do people, other than the rich, buy steak regularly? I don't remember prices being anything like this in my meat-eating days.

Even looking at sausages and burgers, they seem very expensive. It almost seems as if vegetarian options are getting to the point where they are cheaper than real meat. I always assumed that vegetarian/vegan options were about twice the price of what they replace. No longer?

EDIT: Ah, Aldi sausages are still cheaper than vegetarian ones. https://www.aldi.co.uk/8-cumberland-sausages/p/004005007512000 Doesn't take much looking down the list before slightly more 'premium' products are more expensive than vegetarian ones though. https://www.aldi.co.uk/6-lincolnshire-seasoned-sausages/p/009767121565704

EDIT2: Urrghh!!! It was gross enough that unused-to-meat moi was googling meat to see the prices, but then I find this: http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/aldi-supermarket-promises-to-fully-investigate-complaint-after-customer-finds-worms-in-sausages-1-5133060 Worms?!?!?!

robin58

Your expression of disgust with worms in sausages it a bit rich.

You do realise that you can also find grubs and worms in vegetarian food which has not been stored in appropriate conditions.

A couple of times I have had to throw out flour where the flour wevill in the flour has hatched..

You do realise that you always eat a bit of meat each time you eat any vegetables or fruit regardless of how much you wash them. Bugs deposit eggs and thier waste on them during their growth.

RHemmings

robin58 wrote: »

Your expression of disgust with worms in sausages it a bit rich.

You do realise that you can also find grubs and worms in vegetarian food which has not been stored in appropriate conditions.

A couple of times I have had to throw out flour where the flour wevill in the flour has hatched..

You do realise that you always eat a bit of meat each time you eat any vegetables or fruit regardless of how much you wash them. Bugs deposit eggs and thier waste on them during their growth.

No, I don't think that's a bit rich. I haven't experienced having worms in my food since I can remember. I don't think it's a meat vs. vegetarian thing; nobody is going to be happy with worms in their food. I just googled one particular product, and the story about the worms was the first thing that popped up.

I'm not sure what the rest of your post is meant to be about. If you have a point, could you please explain it.

VoucherMan

Must be super worms to stay in such good shape after being cooked.
Probably more nutrition in the worm anyway.

It must be disappointing though, hoping you've found your 15 minutes of fame but only making it into a few local rags.

Pollycat

RHemmings wrote: »

No, I don't think that's a bit rich. I haven't experienced having worms in my food since I can remember. I don't think it's a meat vs. vegetarian thing; nobody is going to be happy with worms in their food. I just googled one particular product, and the story about the worms was the first thing that popped up.

I'm not sure what the rest of your post is meant to be about. If you have a point, could you please explain it.

And from your link and the response by Aldi, it sounds likely that Mr Rowe hasn't experienced having worms in his food either:

“Our supplier has advised us that, from the photographs, the article is likely to be a piece of sausage casing, but we have requested that Mr Rowe returns the product to his local store so that we can fully investigate this as a matter of urgency.”

The only thing missing from Mr Rowe's account is 'it could have been a child who ate the worm'. :rotfl:

As for prices of meat, I could afford to eat steak every day if I wished but I don't wish to.
You can make very good meals containing meat without spending £6 on a steak.

sarah1972

RHemmings wrote: »

Do people, other than the rich, buy steak regularly? I don't remember prices being anything like this in my meat-eating days.

I buy steak every week and I am not rich

antrobus

RHemmings wrote: »

... I don't remember prices being anything like this in my meat-eating days. ..

Of course not. You haven't been in touch with prices since the mid 1990s. Overall price inflation has been 70% over the past twenty years.

I don't know how the prices of individual items in the CPI basket have changed over that time, so I can't say whether or not the price of a 'fillet steak' has become relatively more or less expensive over that period of time compared to the price of a 'carrot' or whatever.

P.S. I can remember that the price of a pint of beer was about 40p in 1977.

RHemmings

Thanks for the posts on the price of meat.

While I've been out of touch concerning meat prices, I always imagined them to be a lot cheaper than the substitutes I've been eating. E.g. Fry's schnitzels are maybe £3.80 for a packet of four, and they aren't large. I was assuming that meat would have been pegging that sort of food, but it seems that some types of meat have increased faster.

I still feel that feeding two people from a box of (vegan) quorn filets for £2.50 a box (plus veggies + sauce which don't cost much) is a bit expensive, but maybe I shouldn't be.

At ASDA, the most basic veggie burgers are £1.50 for a box of eight, but you can buy two boxes for £2.50, sixteen burgers. The 'quarter pounder' versions are £1.50 (or same 2 for £2.50) for two, but that's just a tiny fraction of the M&S steaks. Not the same thing of course. I just presumed that real meat would be half the price. Not so, it seems.

@Sarah1972 - where do you buy your steaks from and how much do they cost?

sarah1972

RHemmings wrote: »

@Sarah1972 - where do you buy your steaks from and how much do they cost?

I buy them from my local butcher mainly and my favourite is rump which are £5 each or sometimes ASDA which are 2 for £7
https://groceries.asda.com/product/beef-steaks-sauces/asda-butchers-selection-prime-beef-rump-steak/910001323738

If I buy fillet which in my opinion has the least taste I get them from my butcher and they are £30 a kilo.

I also like rib eyes which are 2 for £7 at Asda or £10 at my butchers

jon81uk

Steak has always been expensive.

Cheap sausages are available still but I think there has been a general switch to better quality (80% meat or more) sausages and this is reflected in the range and price in supermarkets.

In general sausages are cheaper than burgers, then mince, then chicken, then pork, then beef steak is most expensive

Eric_the_half_a_bee

RHemmings wrote: »

While I've been out of touch concerning meat prices, I always imagined them to be a lot cheaper than the substitutes I've been eating. E.g. Fry's schnitzels are maybe £3.80 for a packet of four, and they aren't large. I was assuming that meat would have been pegging that sort of food, but it seems that some types of meat have increased faster.

Real meat is relatively costly because it is a high quality nutritious food.

Highly processed crap like "Fry's schnitzel's" (ingredients below) is cheap because it is not.

Crumb (15 %) [Wheat flour (Gluten)] · Vegetable Protein (13 %) [Soya · Wheat (Gluten)] · Vegetable oil (Sunflower seed) · Potato starch · Maize starch · Flavourings · Thickener (Cellulose extract) · Sea Salt · Spices (contains: Sulphites) · Onion · Mustard · Colour: Caramel · Red iron oxide.