The Conference Board of Canada reports that Canadian beef
consumption has declined by 31 per cent since 2007 and pork consumption by 19
per cent, but chicken consumption is up by 11 per cent.
It says the trend comes because the Canadian population is
aging and therefore eating less meat to maintain health, that immigrants shun meat for religious reasons and
meat prices have risen.
The report predicts that the weak Canadian dollar will
continue to support the competitiveness of Canadian food products, but softer
employment growth will dampen disposable income growth over the near term.
Some of these same health concerns were cited in a 2012 USDA report of
a 41-percent decline in meat consumption among U.S. consumers since 2007.
Maybe it's because chicken is so much cheaper in the U.S. that the decline in beef and pork consumption there is greater than in Canada.
