President Donald Trump is on a campaign to bring down beef prices. But the nation’s powerful demand for protein is making that goal difficult.

While a crisis in the U.S. cattle supply has been the primary factor in lifting beef prices, a persistent and resilient consumer appetite for meat is also playing a significant role in keeping grocery bills high.

Americans aren’t broadly abandoning meat even as consumer ground beef prices have soared 14% this year to new records. The country’s protein obsession is keeping the pressure on tight supplies, spurring even higher prices and more imports. Shoppers are also adjusting their consumption habits, opting for more affordable cuts of meat.

“The industry all feared like, ‘Here we go again,’ because how can demand and consumption possibly keep up

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