There were no sources of meat protein available for under $2.99 a pound at the grocery store yesterday. Suddenly, the whole vegan thing pops into clarity for me.

Seriously, I remember being able to buy 99-cent ground beef here in Seattle ten years ago. It was the 23 percent lean variety, sure, but my unscientific sampling would indicate a ten-year inflation rate of 200 percent.

I switched to ground turkey when the beef went over two bucks – now, ground turkey’s appearing as some kind of boutique meat and runs $4.99, which is just ridiculous.

They do say that rice and beans are nature’s perfect food.