Credit crunch: Will pet food really be on the menu?

This weekend’s New York Times has some bad food for thought . The credit crunch is biting over there with foodies being forced to change their ways, buy cheaper products and stop dining out.
While many of us this side of the pond probably think a lot of the lardy Statesiders would benefit from cutting back a bit, I can’t help fear the same sort of problems could soon be coming our way as all these economic global issues seem to.
The NYT report says: “middle- and working-class consumers are starting to switch from name brands to cheaper alternatives, to eat in instead of dining out and to fly at unusual hours to shave dollars off airfares.”
So far so reasonbable – no-one is going to cry over a bit of brand swapping and a drop in air travel is on the cards for all of us in these eco-aware times.
But the report continues: “Burt Flickinger, a longtime retail consultant, said the last time he saw such significant changes in consumer buying patterns was the late 1970s, when runaway inflation prompted Americans to “switch from red meat to pork to poultry to pasta — then to peanut butter and jelly.”
“It hasn’t gotten to human food mixed with pet food yet,” he said, “but it is certainly headed in that direction.”
Another tin of Chum darling? Or perhaps that gourmet cat food will finally live up to it’s billing.