Is chicken more expensive these days?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

I went to the supermarket today to get ingredients for some yummy chicken enchiladas I am planning to prepare later on this evening. When I got to the meat counter and looked at the price of chicken, I was shocked! The price for breasts was $4.99 a pound. Now, these were the skinless/boneless variety, so I decided to check out the regular bone-in breasts, there were none, only the "pick of the chix" and it was just as expensive as the boneless (pound per pound). I commented aloud about how I remember chicken being the "cheap" meat, and an older lady next to me chimed in and agreed.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, didn't chicken used to be the cheaper meat? Or is it just a poultry lover's myopic hindsight?

[NMDemDist2]

1. they had that Bird Flu thing remember

really messed up the "flow" of chicken

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3478685.stm

[amazona]

2. that is highway robbery

To a certain extent, grocery prices vary depending on location, but in my neighborhood in South Louisiana, I see one sale for chicken breasts for 97 cents a pound at Rouse's and I see another sale for whole chicken fryers for 49 cents a pound at Albertson's.

I recently bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 a pound but if I take off the skin myself and remove the bones myself, I can generally save another $1 a pound.

In your shoes, I would definitely try another store.

[Ernesto]

3. Everything is more expensive.

But there is officially no inflation....... Go figure........

[Alenne]

4. It's been like that for years

Where I live they give you about 3 chicken breast for about 12 dollars. I wait until they go on sell.

[tridim]

5. Costco boneless breasts are about $2.49

for a mega-supersized family pack. and I can usually find them on sale for $1.99 at Safeway, although that sale price is definately more rare today. I never buy any meat that isn't on sale, and I almost never buy steak any more. It's just too expensive.

[Kellanved]

6. how much?

Wow, I noticed that food is way more expensive stateside (especially considering the lower tax ), but this is really expensive.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

7. That's pretty normal in the Boston area

if you want to get cheaper breasts, buy the bone-in and filet them yourself. I can usually get bone-in for $3.49-$3.99/lb, thighs for $1.99-3.29. Depends if you want the non-hormone kind or regular.

Meat has definitely gotten more expensive, probably because of the popularity of the Atkins diet.

[theshadow]

8. Dairy too

All dairy products are also going up: the cows are more valuable as beef so they're being sold to market; Atkins diets are pushing the milk demand up. The fuel costs are going to reverberate throughout the ag system, and that'll make it worse for everything (dairy, beef, poultry, grain products).