Nineteen years ago I would buy a leg of lamb at the market for $5. Today my supermarket sells a leg for $25 so I eat more pork.
Nineteen years ago, local farmers would sell me a whole lamb for a spit roast for $35 and today I can get one for maybe $60 or $70.
How much are the supermarkets adding?

"Nineteen years ago I would buy a leg of lamb at the market for $5. Today my supermarket sells a leg for $25 so I eat more pork."

... and in doing so you support the cruelest of factory farming methods, unless of course it is certified free range :)

BTW, even i would doubt most claims of organic pork in australia given the lack of organic grain supplies.

When I do buy meat it is from the butcher, not the supermarket. I refuse to buy grain fed (feedlot) beef or lamb but am lucky enough to have my own supplies of grass fed most of the time.

Yabby - wasnt Coles only just recently rapped over the knuckles for not supporting their local beef industry in WA? That they actually bring it in from the east? Or are you just saying you would prefer your meat from over here because we do just do it so much better :)

You are quite correct PF, Coles did get a wrap over the knuckles.
Not only that, Coles were bought by Wesfarmers and guess which
farmers dominate the Wesfarmers share registery? :)

To be fair to Coles, it wasn't all their fault. WA lacks meat
processors and it was there where the problem was. We have exactly
one single beef export works, one major mutton prosessing works
and one major lamb processing works. Its a sick industry in WA,
due to lack of competition.

Phoenix, 19 years ago, everything was half price of today. A
2.5 kg lamb roast at 25$, is around 10 bucks a kg. If you buy them
on special they are usually 6.99 a kg. Many veggies are more then
that. Your best bet is to slice that leg up into lamb steaks,
which at 6.99, makes for very cheap meat.

You can still buy a lamb for 35$, but it will be a store lamb,
or smallish lamb.

As I'm always looking for a chance to save money, I buy a whole rump of "steer" for $6.00 a kilo at the local wholesale butcher. After I have cut the fat off it, I mince it, flatten it into "pancake" portions for easy defrosting and throw them in the freezer. This way I get completely fat-free delicious meat which is better than the best mince in Woolies all for under $8-00 a kilo. I also bake all my own bread in a bread machine, grow some of my own veggies, grow a lot of citrus fruit, but that's another story.

Meat is still as cheap as it ever was if you take in average incomes.
Consider the price of petrol in the days you got your lamb for $35.
My pork comes from local free range grower just because that is my best deal bulk at a price.
Cole's or Woolworth's for the rest and free range chooks when you can buy them.
If not a chicken specialty shop is expensive but its all ready to cook.
May I an average meat buyer say I do not like animal cruelty and will buy based on it, but am turned off by groups like peta?
Others too but my lips are sealed, the current campaign against long distance travel for live exports seems to be interesting.
More information any one?

I can get whole rump for $6/kg at the local butchers. Coles and woolies charge about 3 times as much. The only meat I buy from them is roo mince, which costs about the same and occasionally roo sausages. Price is pretty much it, so long as it is edible. I do a lot of stir fries these days and quality doesn't matter there. With sausages there is so much poo filler that quality is the main issue. I also buy salami - Don is good, primo is poo - soft, mushy and fatty.