Living High on the Hog, Why Meat Is Getting More Expensive

If you felt like your pennies didn’t stretch as far for Easter dinner this year, you are right. Living ‘high on the hog’, is getting more expensive.

Owner of , Angelo Pirry said that ham was up 20 cents from last year and lamb was up $1.20 over last Easter.  

“We obviously don’t want to increase prices but we have no choice,” said Pirry. The good news, he said, is that sales remained at the same levels.

The reason for the higher prices is the rising costs of feed.

Bloomberg analysts predict that the U.S. Department of Agriculture may say tomorrow that corn inventories on Aug. 31 will be 37 percent lower than a year earlier.

USDA is already predicting the price of meat to increase 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent in 2012.  Across all foods, the department expects food to increase 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent.

Perhaps Pirry did not see a dip in sales because lamb is not consumed as frequently as other meats.

According to the American Lamb Board, the average American consumes only one pound of lamb each year, compared to 61 pounds of beef, 59 pounds of chicken and 46 pounds of pork. Nearly 20 percent of U.S. lamb consumption occurs during the spring holidays.

Although residents were able to absorb the price increases this Easter, with other costs on the rise, consumers might have no choice but to change purchasing habits in the future.

Bloomberg reports that the cost of living in the U.S. rose in February by the most in 10 months, due to the jump in gasoline prices.

Aquidneck Meat Market customer Claire Mey from Middletown said that she continues to buy meats because of the level of service Pirry provides.

“It’s tip-top treatment,” she said.  “You get what you want.”  

Pirry said that they do not sell pre-packaged meats and they make their own products such as pasta sauces and even sausages in-house. The market also grinds their hamburger twice a day,  which provides a better tasting and safer product he said.

Mey said her favorite is the chicken, which is all natural without added hormones.

“Don’t let her fool you,” Pirry said. “She’s a tenderloin girl.”

We want to know: If prices on food continue to rise, will you change your purchasing habits? Have you already?