Source: Dani Friedland, MEATINGPLACE, 1/13/12

2012 will be a better year relative to 2011 for pork than it will for beef, veal or chicken, according to USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) data.

The FAS projects that U.S. per capita consumption of beef and veal will drop by 5.9 percent, to 35.3 kilograms or 77.8 pounds. By the same projection, chicken consumption is set to drop 2.9 percent to 43.1 kilograms or about 95 pounds per person.

Turkey projections held steady at 7.3 kilograms or roughly 16 pounds per person, while pork consumption is projected to rise 0.7 percent to 27 kilograms or 59.5 pounds per person.

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