There’s an old saying, often attributed to Otto von Bismarck (although that is doubtful) that correctly states:
To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making.
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True enough, but sausages remain popular. Now, as throughout history, making sausage is not only a good way to preserve animal protein in societies that lack refrigeration but is also a good way to use every part of an animal, including the unmentionable portions that would not otherwise be palatable; thus, von Bismarck’s famous caution.
Now, with inflation hitting many American families in the pocketbook, another (of many) indicator(s) is an uptick in sausage sales.
As American families battle the impact of rampant inflation, more are resorting to buying sausage as a meat alternative to cut back on consumer spending.
This, however, has some experts worried that the modest growth of sausage sales is indicative of deeper-rooted economic turmoil as the price of necessities continues to climb.
“People at the end of the day are trading down right now,” Kelly Lester, a policy analyst for the Center for Food, Power & Life at the John Locke Foundation told “Fox & Friends,” Thursday. “Budgets are strained and people are really feeling the effects of the last few years of inflation when it comes to the grocery store.”
This is known as belaboring the obvious. Budgets have been strained all over the country since the COVID-19 mess, and we aren’t seeing many signs of improvement.
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Amazing how that seems to happen whenever a nation drops tons of fiat currency into the economy. Back in the inflationary cycle of the Nixon-Ford-Carter years, it was chicken and turkey sales that were spiking as cheaper alternatives. Now, it’s sausage.
“We are seeing modest growth in our category of dinner sausage, as sausage is a good protein substitute for higher-priced proteins and can ‘stretch’ consumers’ food budgets,” the report read.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sausage is approximately $6 cheaper than beefsteak, providing struggling consumers with a cheaper option. The average price of both sausage and beefsteak has climbed consistently since 2020.
Lester argued that because costs continue to climb, consumers have to make trade-offs to stretch their budgets further. But because they are making those trade-offs, companies and the agricultural industry have and will continue to suffer.
There’s more to this than the economic aspects — especially when you consider von Bismarck’s caution. When I was in college, I had a Genetics professor who cautioned us about hot dogs and sausage in general. He referred to them as “death missiles,” while admitting he loved a good bratwurst and ate them regularly. There’s nothing like a good grilled bratwurst or a good-quality beef hot dog. But these cheaper meats should be a choice, not a necessity. And there is another aspect to all this, and it’s one that new Trump ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would have some sharp remarks about. Most sausages are loaded with sodium, something I wasn’t really aware of until my wife was put on a cardiac diet.
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Increasingly, these choices are driven by economics and not choices. That’s not the way this should be. That’s not the American way. But in our modern world of runaway government money-printing, this is where we are.