Blecch: Spam Prices Rising
>
So its come to this:
"Sales of Spam — that much maligned meat — are rising as consumers are turning more to lunch meats and other lower-cost foods to extend their already stretched food budgets.
What was once cheeky, silly and the subject of a musical (as Monty Python mocked the meat in a can), is now back on the table as people turn to the once-snubbed meat as costs rise, analysts say."
Source:
Spam spam spam: Sales of Spam rise as consumers look to trim food costs
EMILY FREDRIX
Associated Press, May 28, 2008 - 3:12 PM
http://www.startribune.com/local/19325459.html
Thursday, May 29, 2008 | 06:00 AM | Permalink
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Tracked on May 29, 2008 9:24:33 AM
Comments
"Sales of Spam — that much maligned meat —"
It's an American classic.... The Pate of the masses.... Wow...!
If you haven't eaten Spam on toast points, you don't know what you've been missing.
It's numero uno in my book... My dog loves it too...
Sometimes you Americanos act like a bunch of mentecatos.... The genuine american culture is so incredibly rich and beautiful and so many of you are missing out on it.... What a shame...!
Spam is something to be proud of.
Best regards,
Econolicious
Posted by: ECONOMISTA NON GRATA | May 29, 2008 6:40:45 AM
I'm a vegetarian.
Posted by: Michael Fowke | May 29, 2008 6:47:36 AM
the bush prosperity live on
Posted by: rickrude | May 29, 2008 6:49:20 AM
There are some temptations when keeping kosher. This has never been one of them (at least for me).
Posted by: KellyD3 | May 29, 2008 7:19:05 AM
Gawd...last time I ate the stuff was in basic training, 42 years ago...my uncle who was with the 3rd Armored Division told me they used it to grease the axles on their vehicles....OTOH, it is the same as spiced ham for which it is an acronym....
Posted by: grumpyoldvet | May 29, 2008 7:35:27 AM
More proof that trickle down works. Cut those top marginal rates and we're all better off.
Posted by: VennData | May 29, 2008 8:18:28 AM
Oh Brother!
1)We got the food spam a long time ago.
2)Then came the internet with its own spam.
3)Not to be outdone, politicos converted any fact to political spam. They also have an interesting accompanying side dish, called spin.
Now you are telling me the price of 1) is rising while the cost of 2 and 3) is decreasing.
Depressing!
Posted by: Francois | May 29, 2008 8:22:50 AM
FWIW, Hawaiian fast-food joints (complete with Spam) started popping up in SoCal a year or few ago. This could be part "trend."
Posted by: odograph | May 29, 2008 9:15:31 AM
I just turned bullish on Monty Python.
Posted by: Ferox.Obscurus | May 29, 2008 9:41:11 AM
This is good news. The government will decide that Spam is the equivalent of steak and substitute it for computing the CPI and prove that inflation is actually "contained"
Posted by: JK | May 29, 2008 9:58:04 AM
To: grumpyoldvet
"Spam" is a portmanteau, not an acronym. Just like the El Camino would be a Trar (or Cruck)
Posted by: BustaMove | May 29, 2008 10:34:46 AM
If some folks think the worst thing to come out of these "crises du jour" in the economy is that some more people choose to eat spam than would have otherwise, I'd say we are awfully, awfully rich, yet sadly unaware of our good fortune.
Spam is delicious if you are hungry, as are many other foods we snub our pampered noses at.
Posted by: DonKei | May 29, 2008 10:43:58 AM
Here's why I won't eat Spam, ever again.
Absolutely true story:
One of my bachelor plants was a Venus Flytrap. One night, I ran out of hamburger for it. The only meat product in the house was a can of Spam on the shelf.
I opened it, tore off a tiny piece of one corner, fed it to my plant.
I went away for 20 minutes to shower. When I returned, my flytrap was not just dead; but dry, dessicated, mummified, crispy.
I figure anything that can kill a plant evolved to thrive in brackish swamps would probably do terrible things to my innards.
One additional comment: I suspect Armour Treet will be the ultimate inferior good in this space. I just did shopping/forensic research and noted the following prices:
- 12 oz can SPAM: 2.39
- 12 oz can private-label SPAM clone: 1.92
- 12 oz Armour Treet: 1.25
Posted by: zackattack | May 29, 2008 10:45:48 AM
Hawaiian Treat!!
At first, I found it odd that I was invited over to dinner at the home of the Director who managed HI for the firm we both worked for, and was told we were having Spam. But you know what I loved it. Fried w/ honey mustard poured all over. Per capita this territory is know for Spam consumption.
And for those who like to keep emergency kits in the home Spam can last for up to three years!
As far as killing a plant, it was probably the salt. Give it a piece of a McBurger and you would probably have the same result.
Posted by: Barley | May 29, 2008 11:20:06 AM
And it's a $1.99 for 12oz of Vienna Sausage (chicken and pork). The chicken only version is $1.80 for those looking to avoid treyf food. Obviously we're defining treyf waaaayyy down.
@zackattack: You check out the sodium content for that stuff?
Americans don't really eat healthy under the best or circumstances, if people start eating SPAM and its equivalents, this recession could have even more fun long term fallout in the form of increased heart disease and diabetes.
Posted by: daveNYC | May 29, 2008 11:25:02 AM
SPAM. Ugh. That stuff is ass in a can. Actually, it's Shoulder Portion, Added Meat. But, I digress...
My dog wouldn't even eat it, and that's after I heated it (the SPAM) up nice in a skillet, little scorch marks and all. I'll go vegetarian before I'm down to making SPAM a dietary staple.
Can we just get this all over with and move straight on to Soylent Green?
Posted by: Mike Nomad | May 29, 2008 12:25:44 PM
Will it be the bottom when Friskies and Tender Vittles are undergoing increasing demand and Spam sales are declining?
Posted by: lunatic fringe | May 29, 2008 1:36:42 PM
During the really crap years of the '70s, my family would have spam about once a week. We'd also buy a single chicken that would feed a family of four for 3 meals.
Happy days are here again...
BTW - spam will kill a venus fly trap because of the salt content. The plant isn't designed to eat that much salt at the top, just the bottom.
Posted by: Jim D | May 29, 2008 4:17:38 PM
served SPAM for dinner by your employer???
What does that tell you about your value to the company? If I were the recipient of a SPAM dinner I'd get my resume updated. I don't care if it was smothered in caviar. It's like putting lipstick on an infected pig.
Posted by: Dromedaryhump | May 29, 2008 6:52:27 PM
SPAM = Squirrel, Possum, And Mice.
Posted by: Schizohedron | May 30, 2008 9:05:00 AM
