I will make the case in favour of expensive food to anyone who will listen. All the things that have made food cheap, i.e. efficiencies, have ruined the good stuff. Cheap food allows us to displace our $$ from food towards consumer goods that further destroy the planet and its people through mining (ever heard of coltan mining?), intercontinental commerce, etc. Sure some people can't afford to buy "happy" food, and I won't make them feel bad about it. But I can afford it, so I will as much as I can.

I love meat, red meat in particular, rare or raw if possible but I almost never buy it anymore, unless I know where it's from. I eat as little chicken as I can, although I do eat eggs and cheese regularly, from a place where the chicks are sent to Montessori preschool or something like that. Most meals I cook at home are vegetarian now, it's also cheaper and I'm getting pretty good at making it tasty. I'm always surprised at how few people of my parents' age group even consider cooking a meal without meat. Most people are having meat at least twice, if not three times a day!! When my parents were visiting last summer I cooked a tofu dish that even my dad thought was great. He was pretty surprised. [And there is a lady near here that makes local tofu!! I couldn't believe how good it was compared to the regular stuff.]

However one looks at it, the environmental cost of meat - even family-farmed - is totally excessive. I increasingly see it as fit for special occasions, as it used to be.

Oh, and salmon..... I love, love, love salmon. But I'd rather leave it for the bears and eagles. I do buy it two or three times a year, but much less than before. Worldwide fisheries are collapsing... So many people and other species depend on fish protein more than I do.

Cycling reference: I get produce delivered from this guy. http://www.grocergunst.com/ It's an amazing concept, and the food is really good. Pretty inexpensive considering what we're getting, too.