If meat is expensive you can go on to a largely vegetable and plant based diet. Meat is already more expensive than tofu and beans and lentils. And thanks to the Internet, it's now easy to pick up recipes and change ones diet with food from multiple cultures that don't use extensive amounts of meat.

Meat is a luxury.

Yup. I am an avid meat eater, love BBQ, all of the food I cook has meat in it- but I am absolutely aware that it is a luxury. I do my absolute best to buy higher quality meat as close to pasture raised as I can get... but I don't make that final leap to source out local farmers and buy directly from them to ensure that I know exactly how the meat I'm eating is raised.

But at the end of the day, not everyone can afford organic pasture raised eggs at $7/dozen. And the problem is that we've all gotten so used to eggs at $0.50/dozen or chicken at $1/pound that I don't think society as a whole could deal with the cost of meat equalizing to reflect the true cost of non-factory farmed production.

> I don't think society as a whole could deal with the cost of meat

We certainly could if we had to, but so far we haven't had to.

When I was poor, I didn't eat meat. If I am ever poor again I would go vegetarian. Cheap meat just isn't worth it.