Inflation hits home for Biden

President Biden got a taste of economic reality over the weekend when a family friend griped at the chief executive’s Delaware home that ground chuck can now cost $5 per pound.

But the president said Monday that his beef is with corporate middlemen rather than soaring inflation.

“I was sitting in my kitchen yesterday and there’s a sunroom off the kitchen and my wife was there with her sister and a good friend named Mary Ann,” Biden recounted during an event focused on ways to reduce meat prices. “And she was saying, ‘Do you realize it’s over $5 for a pound of hamburger meat? ’

“Well, this is partly, you know, the pound of beef today costs five bucks compared to less than four bucks before the pandemic.

“And here’s some historical context: 50 years ago, ranchers got over 60 cents for every dollar a family spent on beef. Today, they get about 39 cents. Fifty years ago, hog farmers got 40 to 50 cents for each dollar they spent. Today, it’s about 19 cents. And the big companies are making massive profits.

“While their profits go up, the prices you see in the grocery stores go up commensurate,” Biden added. “And the prices farmers receive for the products they are bringing to market go down. This reflects the market being distorted by lack of competition.”

Earlier Monday, the White House announced plans to spend $1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds to support independent meat-processing companies, pinning much of the blame on four major firms.

Although Biden did not name the companies, they are Minnesotabased commodity trader Cargill, Arkansas-based chicken producer Tyson Foods, Brazil-based meatpacker JBS and Missouri-based National Beef Packing Co.