I think they're anxiety-driven. He just has a harder time getting around and he has suddenly gotten very concerned with food quality (so many issues with my dad start with youtube, by the way, and a new thing appears to be food quality -- not food safety, but just quality) so he wanted to buy meat from a butcher he used to have to see if it tasted better than the meat from the grocery store.
Which ... fine. But hey, maybe I go pick up a pound of beef and make dinner with it HERE in the city and you decide that way.