Per capita beef consumption

As Americans have eaten less beef per capita, they have also driven drunk and died at a lower rate, a correlation that spans twenty-one years and suggests either that red meat makes people reckless behind the wheel or that both trends measure the same slow cultural shift toward moderation that nobody wanted to call a trend until the data made it undeniable. The coefficient is 0.809, and the steak, for once, is well done.

Per capita beef consumption declined from about 67 pounds to roughly 57 pounds between 2002 and 2022, driven by health consciousness, chicken's price advantage, and plant-based alternatives. Impaired driving fatalities declined from about 17,500 to around 10,500 during the same period (with a late-decade reversal), driven by stricter DUI enforcement, ride-sharing, and cultural stigmatization of drunk driving. Both trends reflect a society gradually becoming more health-conscious and risk-averse—eating less red meat and driving drunk less often as generational attitudes shift. The pandemic reversed both trends slightly (beef consumption ticked up, drunk driving surged), reinforcing the shared cultural variable.

Twenty-one years of less beef and less drunk driving is a correlation that captures a cultural shift toward moderation and risk-aversion—at least until the pandemic disrupted both trends. The steak is smaller, the designated driver is more common, and the correlation between them is a generation choosing caution over indulgence, most of the time. The rare exception is 2020, which was exceptional in every way.