Increased sausage demand could be worrying signal on the economy

[pizzadude]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/26/increased-sausage-demand-could-be-worrying-signal-on-the-economy.htm...

An uptick in sausage demand can offer the latest sign of consumers tightening their belts as they continue grappling with high prices.

There has been "modest growth" in the dinner sausage category for one producer, according to the Dallas Federal Reserve's Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey released Monday.

This underscores the trends of shoppers opting for cheaper products and pulling back spending all together as cumulative inflation bites into purchasing power.

[CreditCuriosity]

Saw that also although from another media outlet.   Sad.

[pizzadude]

Yeah without wading into the depths of the report it's kinda hard to know if this is really a leading indicator or just a seasonal anomaly - don't people eat more sausages in the summer anyway, with picnics & BBQs

[Thomas_Thumb]

I don't consider sausage cheap. The types we buy are more expensive than ground beef/turkey/chicken.

Cheap is peanut butter on toast with celery or a bananna. I usually splurge and go with chunky PB on a toasted bagel and an apple. Cheap is oat bran cereal with some milk. Good for fiber but lacking in protein.

Sausage consumption as an economic indicator borders on silly. Hey, people like to walk on sunny warm days. People like to eat ice cream on sunny warm days. My study indicates more people walking leads to more people eating ice cream.  What's weather got to do with it.

[CreditCuriosity]

Was a weird comparison I must admit but a few different network carried it.  Just say meat is up 10% year over year for last 4 years or whatever it is.

[Thomas_Thumb]

Not surprising. Scientific rigor is often shunned by networks as an impediment to a good story.

Fun fact: Hawaii ranks No. 1 in life expectancy and SPAM consumption. No wonder SPAM consumption has risen 7 years in a row in the US and worldwide.

 - Eat SPAM and live longer, huh.

[IsambardPrince]

"Gigantic Recession Leads to Sausage Party."

Try some of those red beans and rice. It's good.

In all seriousness, if people actually ate at home instead of restaurants every night, clipped coupons (easy), shopped sales, hit them with a 6% cashback grocery credit card, and made sure not to have any spoilage (eat your leftovers), I think most would be better off.

Those restaurant owners that want to hike prices, stuff their pockets, and blame their workers can whine about foot traffic all they want here shortly.

Anyway, I've been cooking in an instant pot almost every night for about 5 years now.

As for why supplies are stretched thin, consider Gaius Baltar's dry speech in Battlestar Galactica about how much food the colony ships would require, of what amounts.

We have over 8 billion people in the world, going up all the time, while maniac billionaires get in the news and shame people for not having more.

The capacity of the system is not infinite if you value your living standard.

Enjoy "chicken being an expensive protein".

If people listened to Lester R. Brown in 1974, we would never be in this mess.

It was obvious with the filth and pollution back then, with trends and data, that more people meant the end of the decent American living standard, it was only a matter of time. 

Honestly, most of the population is not in the US, but this whole 5% of the population using 25% of the planet's resources isn't going to last and with other countries adopting the "mindset of a cancer cell", that is extreme Capitalism, growth for the sake of growth, there's going to be a lot of trouble ahead.

[IsambardPrince]

---

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

Not surprising. Scientific rigor is often shunned by networks as an impediment to a good story.

Fun fact: Hawaii ranks No. 1 in life expectancy and SPAM consumption. No wonder SPAM consumption has risen 7 years in a row in the US and worldwide.

 - Eat SPAM and live longer, huh.

---

The theory goes that whatever preserves SPAM forever is the reason why the Hawaiians and people in SPAM-eating Asian countries live so long.

[IsambardPrince]

---

@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Was a weird comparison I must admit but a few different network carried it.  Just say meat is up 10% year over year for last 4 years or whatever it is.

---

If they admitted that it would bring out the people who will not eat the bugs or live in the pods.

I will not eat the bugs, live in the pod, or get another auto loan based mainly on my FICO score.

[Lou-natic]

---

@IsambardPrince wrote:

---

@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Was a weird comparison I must admit but a few different network carried it.  Just say meat is up 10% year over year for last 4 years or whatever it is.

---

If they admitted that it would bring out the people who will not eat the bugs or live in the pods.

I will not eat the bugs, live in the pod, or get another auto loan based mainly on my FICO score.

---

What I can't figure out is if the price of corn is cheap right now because we actually have an excess of corn stockpiled already...and a huge part of the price of meat is the feed cost of which corn makes a pretty good chunk of for beef and chicken so what the heck is going on? Corn is so cheap right now farmers are holding off buying fertilizer for next years crop because fertilizer prices are too high to make planting corn viable next year. I work in this industry and right now the fertilizer companies are holding out trying to get the higher prices and asking "What are the farmers gonna do, not plant corn?" (BTW this is an exact quote from a sales rep on the phone during the past week) not realizing that is exactly what farmers are saying right now. Beans are over $9 a bushel vs corn at under $4 per bushel and a lot of farmers are talking about cutting back on corn next year to plant more soybeans...

Weird how it worked out that way...less corn means even higher beef prices and we know there are certain factions in the world that want to eliminate beef consumption because reasons. It's all lining up perfectly just by coincidence I'm sure.

I can tell you right now that unless fertilizer prices go down between now and January in a big way there is not going to be a glut of corn next year and meat prices will rise even more. There is a standoff right now between the farmers and the fertilizer companies and farmers aren't having any of it right now with prices being so low. Remember farmers buy everything retail and sell their goods at wholesale, there isn't a lot of profit in the business and a dollar difference in corn price is a big deal. IF corn comes back to $4.50+ per bushel then that does start to make the current fertilizer prices more tolerable but right now corn prices are too low and fertilizer is too high for it to make any sense. Good luck ya'll!