40 years ago: Local merchants say nay to horsemeat

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 31, 1973:

  • Reported success of horsemeat sales in Portland, Oregon, for as little as 95 cents a pound was not tempting local meat market managers to begin stocking the less expensive alternative. Winston Harwood, owner of Harwood’s Wholesale Meats, said, “I don’t know of any place in the Midwest that handles it for human consumption.” Bob Munsch of the meat department of Dillons at 1740 Massachusetts said, “I don’t know if I’d want to try it.” None of the managers interviewed reported having ever tasted horsemeat, although Rusty Springer, owner of the local Rusty’s stores, commented, “There were several times when I was in the service in World War II I wondered about.”
  • President Nixon this week had imposed a ceiling on supermarket and wholesale meat prices while his administration sought a permanent solution to soaring food costs. Beef, pork, and lamb prices had been frozen at their current levels. Livestock producers contended that the freeze was unfair and wouldn’t bring any real benefit to consumer. Congress was mostly supportive of the move, but some Democrats said that they would continue to push for a freeze on all prices. Meanwhile, organizers were planning a nationwide “meat boycott” beginning this weekend, and local attendees at the Livestock Barn auction reported a slight uptick in attendance, adding that they did not know if the increase was related to the national meat price freeze.