Beef Prices Rising...Atkins Contributes...
 

Interesting comment in an article on NY Times.com today regarding record high prices of beef. Here's a quote from the article...

"Demand for beef has surged with the industry's development of juicier cuts and the new popularity of the Atkins diet, which promotes high protein meals. Americans are eating 67 pounds of beef a year per capita now, 3 more pounds than a decade ago. "

Here's the link....

Beef Prices & Atkins

Right. The next thing you know, they'll be blaming the Atkins diet for global warming! :rolleyes:
Seriously...they don't think that recent drought and thinning of herds in the US combined with the current embargo on imports of beef from Canada have anything to do with the increase in prices? And 3 pounds more per capita/per year over the last decade is a "surge in demand"? Oh, brother!
Seriously...I don't eat any more beef now than I did before I went low carb. I tend to eat more chicken and pork because honestly it's cheaper and it was cheaper even before beef prices started to rise. Now, I can see some who have been religiously following the low fad diet and avoiding beef like it was the plague going a little binge happy on beef once they decide to take the low carb plunge, but the novelty wears off quickly.

Yeah, not allowing import of beef from Canada for months on end with no legitimate reason other then allowing american producers to make more money (at the expense of americans), certainly is responsible. In fact, beef consumption is way up in Canada, but our prices are down. We were swimming in beef this summer! Thanks American beef industry! :)

In our household, we eat a lot of chicken and pork too. I wonder why Atkins hasn't driven all meat prices sky high?

Atkins isn't what is driving this; as others have said it's the Canadian beef ban, among other factors. I eat a bit more beef now than before -- but not more than 15% more. And while there are lots of low-carb people, we aren't enough of a market force to account for the price increases on our own.

Interesting. My perception of the article was positive. The message to me was that enough people were doing Atkins that it may have contributed to the increase in beef prices. More people doing Atkins is good news. Healthier people, lower medical expenses, etc. However everyone who's posted so far viewed it as blaming Atkins for a problem. Is the glass half full or half empty?