Meat's Price Tag is higher. How Do you Stretch Your Food Dollar?

By Julie Murphree, Arizona Farm Bureau
By now, you've adjusted to some of the inflationary sticker shock of some of our food prices. But, still how do we handle some of these higher food prices, especially with our meats?

A recent study conducted by 210 Analytics and commissioned jointly by the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) , suggests that meat and poultry play an important role at the American dinner table, with chicken and beef making up the largest share of purchases when buying food.

Because of this, it's important you stretch your food dollar where you can.

We still must hold to some basic tips when purchasing our meat.

1. Plan. The week's menu you design before the trip to the store becomes your most important tool for stretching your food dollar. For example, can you buy a roast to cook on Sunday with plans for estimated leftovers for the rest of the week?
2. Check the weekly food specials in the mail and paper and design your menu around the specials on certain cuts of meat.
3. Focus on value as much as you do price.
4. Also, compare prices while in the store. Here, you might uncover a bargain not planned for in your menu.

Ultimately, this underscores great opportunity for flexibility to adjust based on your pre- and post-research to battle higher food prices. Remember, you're the one with the greatest power to stretch your food dollar!