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> In Switzerland meat is expensive. Organic ground/minced beef from Farmy is something like $15-20/lb. Organic chicken breast is $50/lb (around $15/breast). Th

> In Switzerland meat is expensive. Organic ground/minced beef from Farmy is something like $15-20/lb. Organic chicken breast is $50/lb (around $15/breast). That's insane. I'm in the USA and I can get organic ground beef for under $7/lb. Organic chicken breast for $8/lb. Both can be even lower if I buy in bulk. If you don't care about it being organic, then both of them get to $3/lb.

JeremyNT 4y ago
Eating animals is incredibly resource intensive, and farming animals for meat results in externalities that are not paid by the producers or consumers. Perhaps instead it's the USA prices that are "insane."
- kyleee 4y ago
  Are the Swiss using their extra profits from meat to deal with the externalities you mention?
poulpy123 4y ago
Don't forget that salaries in Switzerland are very high. In Geneva, the minimum legal salary before taxes is at 26$/h
trynewideas 4y ago
The only places on Earth where beef is as or more expensive are Hong Kong and Korea. It's a steep drop off from those three. Food prices in general are higher in Switzerland (1.6x EU in 2020), but meat is exceptionally expensive (2.3x EU). This affects both organic and non-organic stock. Most of the margins on both are to retailers.[1] > The system only works because Switzerland is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but not part of the European Economic Area. It can therefore easily isolate itself from the EU internal market and protect domestic products from foreign competition. > "Switzerland doesn't get flooded with cheap meat from Germany. That's a huge advantage for Swiss farmers," says Martin Rufer. > Anyone entering Switzerland may import a maximum of 1 kilogram of meat or meat products per person. Anything above that will get extremely expensive because of the high customs duties. 1: https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-meat-animals-farmers/a-54550887 https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-meat-animals-farmers/a-545...

JeremyNT 4y ago

Eating animals is incredibly resource intensive, and farming animals for meat results in externalities that are not paid by the producers or consumers. Perhaps instead it's the USA prices that are "insane."

kyleee 4y ago
Are the Swiss using their extra profits from meat to deal with the externalities you mention?

poulpy123 4y ago

Don't forget that salaries in Switzerland are very high. In Geneva, the minimum legal salary before taxes is at 26$/h

trynewideas 4y ago

The only places on Earth where beef is as or more expensive are Hong Kong and Korea. It's a steep drop off from those three. Food prices in general are higher in Switzerland (1.6x EU in 2020), but meat is exceptionally expensive (2.3x EU). This affects both organic and non-organic stock. Most of the margins on both are to retailers.[1] > The system only works because Switzerland is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but not part of the European Economic Area. It can therefore easily isolate itself from the EU internal market and protect domestic products from foreign competition. > "Switzerland doesn't get flooded with cheap meat from Germany. That's a huge advantage for Swiss farmers," says Martin Rufer. > Anyone entering Switzerland may import a maximum of 1 kilogram of meat or meat products per person. Anything above that will get extremely expensive because of the high customs duties. 1: https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-meat-animals-farmers/a-54550887 https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-meat-animals-farmers/a-545...