Camp was late for our weekly brew chat because he is busy at the store, probably tallying up the accounts for the end of the year. This is of course the time of year when running a bookstore is actually rewarding in more than in just an esoteric sense; he’s actually making some money since books are still the best of all presents. 

            Now that a new year has started, we all want it to be better than the last one. A wishful fantasy at best. It started with a tragedy in the Swiss Alps when a night club erupted into an inferno at 1:30AM, killing at least 40 people and injuring 115 others. Unimaginable. I was shaking my head in disbelieve when I read the awful news.        

I was pawing through my emails when Camp walked in, shook off his rain-soaked jacket and plunked into his chair.

‘Good year at the store?’

            ‘Yes and no. Not as good as previous years but still better than a kick in the pants. Heard about that awful fire in Switzerland. A catastrophic heartbreak.’

            We both sat in silence for a minute, finding no words. 

            Finally, Camp broke the silence.

            ‘How is retirement by the way? Getting fat and lazy or bored or just doing the things you always wanted to do?’

            ‘I suppose a little bit of all of the above,’ I said. ‘Talk about getting fat. This is the time of year we all indulge in too much food and drink, speaking strictly for myself of course. Enough cookies to last me the rest of the year.’

            ‘I think you speak for many of us. We’ll all need to go on a diet after these holidays. II read an article the other day on the soaring price of beef in the US and I guess here at home as well. It’s never been as scarce or as expensive but the price doesn’t seem to impact the consumption much.’

            ‘All I know is that North Americans eat a lot of meat,’ I said.

            ‘Yes, Americans will eat nearly 60 pounds per person this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That equals about 118 eight-ounce filet mignons for everyone in the United States.’

            ‘Wow but I bet most of that is in fast food burgers and tacos, not rib-eye steaks or filet mignons, while the rest of the animals is rendered into pet foods.’

            ‘You’re probably right but it’s still a staggering number. Makes one want to become a vegetarian or at least a pescatarian. Fact is: Americans eat a lot of beef but the nation’s cattle inventory is at its lowest level since the 1950s, therefore the price is up. A classic imbalance between supply and demand.’

            ‘There must be a good reason for that.’ I said.

            ‘Herds are shrinking in recent years partly as a result of widespread drought, which reduced grazing land and forced ranchers to buy more feed. Closures of meatpacking plants have also inflated cattle prices. Maybe that has to do with the aggressive migrant policies. I bet not too many Americans or Canadians want to work in an abattoir or meat processing plant.’

            ‘We served up a cheese fondu for Christmas eve and a farmed steal-head salmon for Christmas dinner. Not a lot of meat around at our dinner table these days. It’s too expensive and we just don’t crave it as much anymore.’

            ‘I suppose there is a guilt factor involved as well,’ Camp said, finishing his pint.

            ‘I guess so,’ I admitted. ‘Just think of all the methane these cows, pigs and sheep release into our fragile atmosphere; all of them fueling the carnivorous appetite of 7 billion, gas emitting humans.’

            ‘What are you two talking about?’ Vicky asked while swapping our empties out. 

            ‘Charity and generosity,’ Camp said much too quickly.

            ‘You’re full of it,’ Vicky said, winking at me. 

            ‘I wonder if she overheard us,’ Camp said after she left.

            ‘Well, she is not wrong, is she?’