The latest ONS data shows food price inflation rising from 2.6% to 2.8% year on year. Its not as high as a couple of years ago but anyone who shops in a supermarket will have noticed the increase (this apparently does not include most journalists who need prompts such as the ONS stats).
The nineteenth century song The Roast Beef of Old England was not so much a song of praise to meat as a political jibe at the reality for some that the industrial revolution from the late eighteenth century may have brought profit for employers but not good wages for workers.
As E P Thompson discussed at length in the Making of the English Working Class, the standard of living issue (which he regarded as the least satisfactory part of the book) is complex. Some industrial workers, perhaps particularly in London did see an improvement in diet. For many others even poor quality meat was for special occasions only.
The situation may not be so different in 2025.
Vegetarians and Vegans will have their own food cost issues but for occasional meat eaters like myself (a steak perhaps every two or three weeks) the increase in cost is noticeable. Steak is even now expensive in cost cutting supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl
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