United States: The price of meat this Memorial Day may force you to buy veggie burgers

Will you be putting hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill this weekend? Or instead show down on plant-based protein? Barbecues will be heating up this Memorial Day weekend — not just from charcoal or propane, but from the record prices Americans will pay at the grocery store. Beef, pork and corn are must-haves for many Americans this weekend, but this year that demand is coupled with high prices, a bad combination for consumers. Meat prices rose by 1% in April compared to March, and have jumped 4% over the past year, according to the most recent government figures. “Meat prices are often more volatile than some other food price categories,” said Jayson Lusk, head of the agricultural economics department at Purdue University. Costco COST, -2.38% CEO Richard Galanti said on the company's Thursday earnings call that “beef in the last month has been up as much as 20%.” “Some of that is due to feed and labor and transportation costs,” he said. There is also greater demand as restaurants ...