Okay, this could be about bacon ice cream, but it's not. It is about the price of bacon. As you may have noticed, the price of bacon is astronomical.
Bacon always came in one-pound packages. Remember? When prices rose, like many other items, the package size shrunk while the price remained the same.
So, in telling you this story I have to first convert the price from a 12-ounce package to a 16-oz package. It makes little difference, but I will tell it anyway.
The bacon I like and is local: Royal. It may only be in the Southeast at this time. Royal Bacon is now $4.99 for a package. The rub? A package only holds 12-ounces. That makes the mythical 16-ounce package $6.65/pound. That is outrageous.
For meat purchases, my favorite price is $1/lb. That price is almost impossible to find. Sometimes, I will go for $2, but rarely. Free is my favorite price. I often get free meat.
Now, for the price I paid for the bacon. There was a sale on this bacon. Then, there was a 25% off sale on all meat. THEN, I get 5% off on Wednesday because I am a senior citizen. I shopped on Wednesday.
Original price $4.99
sale price $2.99
Minus 25% -$0.75
New price $2.24
minus 5% -$0.11
Final price -$2.13
Price per pound: $2.84 at new low final price.
So, $2.13 for my package of bacon!
$2.13 Did you hear that?
Now, don't feel sorry for me because I cannot and don't buy expensive meats. I really like chicken breasts. Thankfully, I don't crave expensive cuts of meat. Beef is not a priority in my life, although about once a year I crave a roast or ham. I rarely even purchase bacon because it is not really healthful eating. But, it is oh-so-good.
Since Thelma was on a laying binge this last week and I collected four eggs, I am going to have bacon and eggs right now, along with a tangerine, half dozen cherries, and a glass of milk. (I just had a roll, so I will skip bread.) I only bought six cherries because of the price....sigh. These are the last two eggs and she has laid no more.
Your turn
While I am cooking and eating, talk to me, if you will. Do you make it a priority to only buy meat on sale to get the best price? How much is the top quality bacon where you live? Or, maybe you raise and kill your own meat.
I haven't been eating or buying as much meat these days. Partly because it's expensive and partly because I have a few cool slowcooker cookbooks with some good vegetarian recipes in them. Right now I've got some venison in the freezer and a striped bass in the freezer--both that my uncle caught. And I've got a couple of cans of clams and some cans of tuna (the clams for homemade linguini al vongole and the tuna to put on salads).
ReplyDeleteIf its not on sale we don't buy meat. I try to go shopping when the butcher at our grocery marks down meats as he puts out fresh cuts. Not sure the price of bacon at them moment but we cut our slices of bacon in half to make it last longer.
ReplyDeletePeggy,
DeleteMeat I buy has to be on sale. That is a smart way to shop for both of us. I cut the bacon in half because it fries up better, more evenly browned.
Pamela,
ReplyDeleteHaving people give you meat is a great bargain. Meat plays a small roll in my diet, but I do eat meat every day. It may be a can of tuna if I don't have anything cooked and am lazy. Paying attention to prices of foods we eat surely helps. Lots of vegetables curbs my appetite for meat, but not completely.
I try to buy grass fed beef and pastured pork. We raised our own organic chicken summer past.
ReplyDeleteLast year at this time I had been eating a raw vegan diet for 8 months. Then I started an MS diet which is rich in brain building/joint healthy foods including 4oz of meat or fish a day (grass fed, wild or organic).
The only 'bargain' I find is buying from a lower priced family farm at the farmer's market.
On the positive side 4oz is actually a very small amount. A pound of ground beef can feed my husband and I for 2 days or just me for 4.
I should be buying grass fed beef. I really need to try and find some around here, and just eat less beef than I do. If I did not live smack dab in the middle of the city, I would raise free range chickens for comsumption.
DeleteThat is interesting about the MS diet.
The guy at the farmer's market is not cheaper. He is actually more expensive. However, I have bought bacon from him and uncured "bacon"--just pork belly with no curing or anything added.
Oh! Linda, I meant that I go to the least expensive guy at the farmer's market. (There are several) You are right. It isn't cheaper than the store, he is just the least expensive at the farmer's market. Sorry for the confusion.
DeleteI hear you about not having room to raise meat. We only have 1.5 acres so I don't think we'll ever raise beef or pork.
What is pork belly like? How do you prepare it?
Understood now.
DeletePork belly is what bacon is before it is bacon. It looks just like a slice of bacon, just not so flavorful.
I save the bacon grease in a half-pint jelly jar in the refrigerator. I buy pork belly, fry it up like bacon using the bacon grease. So, I get less preservatives but some of the flavor.
If I could just raise chickens to process and get eggs, I could live just fine. Maybe I could trade eggs or hens for bacon or roasts.
Sue,
DeleteI meant the guy at my market is more expensive than the grocery store.
Linda, Being on a farm we researched the possibility of raising and having slaughtered our own meat. Animal feeds have gotten very expensive, and frankly I can't raise it as cheaply as I can get it at Sam's Club. I have a Sam's Club membership for $35. year I share between my daughter and our house (My husband and three sons) She pays $17. a year and so do we. We share the card, and sometimes the products we buy there. I can get good ground beef for $2.49 lb. I bought a large box of bacon there last year, and it lasts us a very long time. I will notice how much it is a pound next time.
ReplyDeleteWe try to grow what we can, which includes some vegetables, herbs, and some fruit from our trees. This time of year, we only have the dried herbs left. We have our own eggs. We trade the extra eggs to others for things they have in abundance. I also makes some nice quiches which we freeze, and it's our version of "frozen food". We don't eat any "prepared foods". Everything is from scratch.
We find that as food has risen in price, we actually ate less, which for us, was constructive.
Jane,
DeleteI wonder what animals are fed if the meat can be sold cheaper than you can buy it. Of course, I understand the buying power of large corporations.
It would be interesting to see how much you can buy bacon in bulk.
If I only had enough eggs to trade for vegetables! Have you ever frozen the eggs for use later? I did that and they were really good when thawed and worked like fresh eggs.
Mmmmm... Bacon... Bacon is generally around $5/pound here. A good sale might be about $3/pound. Back bacon (peameal/Canadian) was on sale last week for $2/pound, which is really incredible. I stocked up! Now I need some new chickens so I could have some eggs with that bacon!
ReplyDeleteWendy,
ReplyDeleteI am with you on the new hens.