First it was the gas prices ... now, even staying home and having a good ol' fashioned steak or rib barbecue might be too pricey for some.

In an interview this morning, Food Fair manager Jim Palamar said while he's accustomed to seeing prices on meat rise each summer as the barbecue season gets underway, he's never seen prices jump as much as they have in the past month.

Various steaks have gone up $3 a kilogram, while chicken is approximately $1 more per kilogram than it was a month ago.

There's been an increase in pork prices as well by anywhere from $1 to $2 more per kilogram than it was last month.

Normally, in the summer, pork prices increase anywhere from 50 cents to $1 more per kilogram.

'It fluctuates every week regularly, but it was the dramatic climb that bothered me,' he said.

As for the reason, Palamar doesn't know, but suggested producers are 'trying to make more money.'

Sam Jurovich, who owns the city's two Super A Grocery stores, noted that internationally, the demand for pork is higher due to the mad cow scare affecting beef sales and avian flu affecting chicken sales.

This puts the price of pork up, while traditionally, prime cuts of beef and chicken increase in the summer as the barbecue season gets underway.

'It's a supply and demand thing,' he said.

When the prices escalate in a given week, the Super A store normally tries to absorb the difference and retains its prices because the cost to them is up and down 'like a yo-yo' regularly.

If the price remains higher for a few weeks, Super A then puts its prices up.

Neither Food Fair nor Super A have heard from many shoppers complaining about the price of meat.

At Food Fair, different types of steaks are on sale each week so a customer may buy one type one week and a different type the next.

Jurovich noted if meat is in a customer's diet, he or she will generally continue to buy it even when the prices go up.

Palamar doesn't believe the cost of chicken is going up due to the avian flu. It's already risen once due to the bird illness.

'I can't see a reason,' he said.

That said, he believes the prices may be finally stabilizing as much of the meat coming into the store this week was the same price as it was the week before.

Palamar hopes the prices will drop by the end of the summer. If not, he said, it'll be evident there's some price gouging happening.