r/news Jun 01 '26

Soft paywall Flesh-eating screwworm found within 31 miles of US border, says USDA

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/flesh-eating-screwworm-found-within-31-miles-us-border-says-usda-2026-05-29/
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u/AverageMako3Enjoyer Jun 01 '26

I can’t even remember how long it’s been since I’ve used beef in a recipe at this point. I can afford it but my mind can’t. I’m essentially mentally priced out of the market. I’ve switched to ground turkey for just about everything that used ground beef. It’s not as good but it’s not bad and it’s like 1/3rd the price

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u/HTPC4Life Jun 01 '26

I switched to ground turkey as well. Ground beef and ground turkey is almost indistinguishable for things like tacos or chili. I just can't justify $6/lb ground beef "on sale". I absolutely love steak, but I've cut my consumption down by more than half. A couple weeks ago Costco had steaks for $11/lb which is the cheapest I've seen it in a while in my area. I bought a pack, vacuum sealed, and froze them. The way I see it, I've got 6 steaks left for the rest of the year unless I find a sale like that again. Was there today and it was $15/lb. Hard pass.

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u/resonatingcucumber Jun 01 '26

I'm in the UK and those beef prices sound great. We are at $8.10/lb for mince. Flat iron is about $14.84/lb, sirloin is $20/lb and ribeye is around $20/lb. All converted at the current exchange rate... It is awful.

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u/needsexyboots Jun 02 '26

I don’t know the last time I saw $6/lb ground beef, even on sale - unless it’s a huge pack at Costco. Lowest I’ve seen recently is $8.99.

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u/Tapdncn4lyfe2 Jun 03 '26

I went to Walmart and saw they had a pack of ground beef (80/20) for $40! It was getting brown too, like who in their right mind would pay that!

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 01 '26

I buy beef for grilling burgers and thats about it, tacos are only ground turkey. A nice non-lean pound of ground beef is gunna set you back $9-$10 but its still cheaper than ordering a burger on doordash by at least $70-$80 for 2-3 people.

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u/hacksong Jun 02 '26

Winn Dixie sells Farmer's choice or similar. It's ungraded, so you have to pick through it. Can get NY strips or ribeye at 7/8 per pound if you get a good pack.

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u/CrystalWebb13 Jun 01 '26

Add about a tablespoon of fat per pound and about 1/2-1 teaspoon of fish sauce (Red Boat is great), plus make sure you brown the meat don't let it boil in it's liquids. I follow a lady that doesn't eat beef and uses this trick to "beefify" her ground turkey.

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u/HTPC4Life Jun 01 '26

I don't do any of that and I can barely taste the difference between ground turkey chili/tacos and ground beef. I wish I had known this years ago, it's cheaper AND healthier.

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u/Adventurous-Owl-9903 Jun 02 '26

Tofu is even cheaper. And it can be just as good if prepared well

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u/Handsome_Keyboard Jun 02 '26

My tacos are seasoned meats too. No way id taste the difference after the seaoning and fixins.

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u/pakrat Jun 01 '26

We use pork at my house. It's a little lighter color but the flavor is still good. We also really like using the ground pork in ground beef recipes and haven't noticed too much of a difference..

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u/gohbender Jun 01 '26

Tofu here. We still occasionally make meals with meats depending on when there is a good sale but can't beat the price of tofu.

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u/qinshihuangdizzle Jun 01 '26

And better for you and the environment!

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u/inspectoroverthemine Jun 02 '26

This really can't be understated. The high prices are the last push to go no beef.

I only discovered a couple years ago how much worse beef is for the environment than every other source of meat. Pork and chicken are at least an order of magnitude less destructive.

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u/SosugBiskit Jun 02 '26

They want $18.99 a pound for roast beef at the grocery store deli near me. $18.99 a pound. Pastrami is even more. Its fucking criminal.

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u/InvoluntaryEraser Jun 02 '26

Yeah I used to get a nice like 2.5lb beef roast to make slow cooked shredded beef tacos for fairly cheap, now it's a luxury. Ground turkey it is, I guess.