That's more expensive than chicken, most pork, ground beef, turkey... Obviously, prices depend on location and where you shop, so they may be different, but this has been my experience across a few states (all in the midwest or southwest, though, so my food is probably cheaper comparatively if you're a coastie).
The point is, in the US most seafood at the store is at least $15/lb. Beef (depending on cuts) is as little as $3/lb. Chicken and pork are typically cheaper than beef.
Given energy constraints and the economics of things, meat should be more expensive everywhere. But the US also has massive agriculture subsidies, so what determines the cost of food here is Congress more than any market.
Dried beans (my favorite) tend to be much cheaper than just about any other source of protein, but I don't think I've ever seen tofu being sold for less than hamburger. Ground meat in this country tends to be really cheap, thanks to agricultural subsidies, filler, "pink slime" and the like.
I'm in Southern California and do most of my day-to-day shopping at Trader Joes and even I agree. Even with a diet that is really heavy on the expensive stuff like steak and avocados.
The most expensive beef I buy is prime top sirloin steaks at costco for $9-10/lb and ribeye roasts (that I cut up into steaks) at the local halaal market are $8/lb or less. Tenderloins for kebabs and filet mignon is $6-8/lb at Ranch 99 or Shun Fat. The most expensive chicken I get is Costco tenderloins for chicken tenders that sometimes rise to $7/lb but otherwise chicken breast is $3.5/lb or less. The oxtails and neckbone for good beef stock are more expensive than most of the meat I usually eat!
I suspect I'm just really privileged and don't know the meaning of a food desert. The number of ethnic grocery stores here in SoCal guarantees that it's easy to find a cheap source for every ingredient imaginable. The key is to shop there and not at the big names like Safeway, Vons, Ralphs, Albertsons, etc.
I was just talking to my wife about it. Her opinion is that fish in the US is more expensive than chicken and more comparable to beef in that cheap fish is similar in price to cheap beef and expensive fish like expensive beef.
In NYC for example, fruits are quite expensive - watermelons, mangoes etc. You could get some veggies like cabbage for cheap, but others like cucumbers are expensive. You could get cheap chicken, yes.
So it is more nuanced than that - the generic statement of meat being expensive than veggies (or vice versa) isn't true everywhere. It would be nice if veggies are consistently cheaper than meat though - everyone wins.
Last year I could buy a whole chicken for roasting for about $10. Now they are $17 or so. 70% increase. Beef the same. Pork hasn't jumped as much for some reason. Ground turkey is about the most affordable meat I can find right now, but when you cook it you can see that it has a lot of water in it.
It’s interesting that things differ so much from one region to the next. I’m in the Midwest and everything is abundant, the shelves are full, and you can get pork for $1-2 per pound, usually on the lower end of that range, and chicken at moderate prices. Is shipping the bottleneck here?
But beef and pork are pretty much always cheaper than chicken?
If I go to my supermarket's site right now, chicken is ~€12 per kilo[0], beef is ~€7 per kilo[1] and pork-beef mix (can't get pure pork minced meat) is €5,30 per kilo[2]. And it'll be like that in every supermarket in The Netherlands (and possibly Europe)
In the Midwest chicken is often $2 a pound. Vegetables vary a lot, but $3 a pound is about right for perishable stuff other than greens (which are more expensive). Carrots and onions and the like are way less than $3 a pound.
I agree with this as well even as a Midwesterner. People balked at me when I told them I have gone by paying only $100/mo in food before(everything including out to eat). People don't realize that you can live without red meat. And chicken is a cheaper, healthier alternative.
By what measure, though? What does "cheaper" mean here in terms of unit to unit comparison?
For those interested in protein, or feeling full, chicken is one of the cheapest things you can possibly buy. In NYC, fresh vegetables, and (god forbid) organic, is one of the most expensive things you can buy. In my experience, buying ingredients for a full salad with relatively fresh ingredients is almost as expensive as going to a moderately priced restaurant. It's crazy.
If what I said sounds wishy-washy, it's because no one's defined what a unit of animal product versus a unit of fruit and vegetables is, when doing this price comparison.
It might just be because the weather here doesn't give us Mediterranean-like weather conditions and a lot of stuff has to come from places like Mexico and California (it seems from what the local grocery stores are stocking).
Yikes, is this the US? Just a reminder that things like this are incredibly regional based. I still pay $1.79/lb for chicken breast and 3.50 for 80/20 ground beef in Richmond Virginia.
And gas goes up and down for a variety of reasons.
I also find it interesting how much of a premium white meat commands at the grocery store. $10 might get me 1 lb (450 g) boneless chicken breast, or 3 lb (1400 g) boneless chicken thigh. Since one chicken produces slightly less thigh meat than breast meat, I can only assume that there is a huge disparity in demand.
I'm not complaining—I get the meat I prefer for a good price that way.
(Edit: To be clear, U.S.)
(Edit 2: I think I misremembered the prices: might have been 3 lb / 9 lb instead of 1 lb / 3 lb.)
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