Looking for the Full Story on Bison...

Could someone please tell me what is going on in the bison meat market? I keep hearing sob stories of bison farmers who are just not able to sell their meat, and have to settle for a pittance per pound. Then Melanie gets bison steaks without noticing the price, and they are outrageously expensive (but worth every bit of it, yum!). Then, a week later she finds at Trader Joe's ground bison for $5 for 2 pounds. For some reason she only bought one package. So, what is the deal? My butcher who sold us the steaks is a little on the high side, but would not gouge Melanie or me, but it would seem that if the bison rancher is getting any decent percentage on the sale, he has nothing to worry about, even if he is selling his lesser cuts to Trader Joe's for grinding into the $2.50/lb stuff.

Do any of you know the real story? By the way, I highly recommend bison meat. For Melanie's birthday I grilled bison burgers (with lovage and garlic, following Alice Water's recipe in Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook) over mesquite and oak, and served them on toasted pan de mie rolls with balsamic grilled onions and a green salad on the side (tomatoes are finally acceptable here). I was going to make classic pommes frites (cut thinly - McDonald's actually gets this right, par-fried in peanut oil, allowed to cool, then fried again in fresh peanut oil), but found a farmer at the market who was selling zucchini blossoms, which are one of Melanie's favorites (I batter them in a light egg/flour/milk/salt/pepper batter and fry them in extra virgin olive oil), so I did those instead.

We served it all with a bottle of 1995 merlot (that a friend made, sorry, it's not on the market) and were in for some good eating. Our friends brought over some gelato from the one place in the Bay Area that makes authentic gelato (not the best, but satisfactory).