Fresh bite on a vintage motto

Rising beef prices have replaced the old quip “Where’s the beef?” into a sharp expression of Americans’ economic frustration and cultural loss;

Greg Maresca ——Bio and Archives--March 20, 2026

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It was a lunchroom conversation most could relate to with a sigh. “I was at the grocery store last night,” one coworker said shaking her head, “and my two bags cost me $45, and I didn’t buy any meat.” By coincidence and perhaps a bite of economic symmetry, the headline staring back at me from the Business and Finance section of The Wall Street Journal was telling: “The Beef Industry Has a Message for Consumers: Get Used to High Prices.”

“Where’s the beef?” is now economic anxiety disguised as nostalgia

The whole episode summoned the memory of that trio of elderly ladies in 1984 staring at a lonely hamburger patty and delivering with the flat resignation of those who have seen enough nonsense for one lifetime with deadpan timing: “Where’s the........

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