Argentina! Beef?

Normally, I don’t eat a lot of steak. If you haven’t read Omnivore’s Dilemma, then you need to do so RIGHT NOW. It gives a great overview about the entire US cattle industry. You learn how cows, who are supposed to be fed on grass, are instead fed corn while packed into feedlots. The corn causes their stomachs to basically have ulcers (because of course they can’t digest corn), which can lead to a whole host of problems. To combat this, we pump them full of antibiotics so that they’ll stay nice and healthy, which in turn creates super bacteria which could one day take us all down… Eating grass fed beef tastes a lot better, has more “good fats,” and you won’t be ingesting all the antibiotics and hormones that tend to be absorbed into the fat.

SO. When I’m in the States, I try to only eat beef that is grass fed. (Except, I have to admit I have a weakness for taco stands.) But it is definitely pricey, so I don’t end up eating a lot of it. Thus, I was excited to come down to Argentina, where they eat the most steak per capita over any other country. And supposedly, it’s all grass fed and the meat is the best in the world. Which is actually what everyone was telling me when I arrived.

I was ready to go to the grocery store and pick up a random package of beef, and feel safe that it came from a farm where the cow had time to graze and be content. However, at the supermarket, I was overwhelmed with the variety of cuts, and just didn’t know all the names in Castellano….so I delayed. And I’m glad I did…for since beef is such the national food, there are a million articles concerning beef in the paper every day. (Which on a side note, I am also finding out that the inflation here is CRAZY. One woman told me that a year ago one kilo of Milanesa, which is a thin slice of beef, cost 10 pesos, and now costs 35 pesos.) With beef being such a central topic, there have inevitably been articles about the beef industry and the changing tides of production.

I first listened to a link to an NPR story that came out in September, 2009.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112767649

And was instantly bummed to hear that the practice of squeezing hundreds of animals into a small space and feeding them grain was spreading to a place where the practices really were pure and idyllic. According to the report, a third of the beef produced in Argentina is now from feedlots. They even use the English word, “feedlot.” They start their cows grazing on grass, and for adult cows ( > 18 months), the last 2 months of their lives are spent confined in feedlots, where hormones and antibiotics are used along with grain feed. It is simply more profitable to finish cattle with grain, and with the economy being what it is, the practice is sure to grow in coming years.

There is of course, debate surrounding this issue. I read an opinion article the other day calling for people to ask at restaurants where their meat was coming from, the pasture or a feedlot. And of course traditionalists are against the homogenization of the product, saying that the flavor is also lacking.

It’s simply sad to learn that a country which had it so right, is quietly, going the other way. With the price of beef being the first concern on everybody’s mind, why wouldn’t they be quick to buy a cheaper beef?

It is also a realization that Argentines as well have to start asking, “where does their food come from?” and “what did they actually put in there?” It’s unfair that anyone has to do this much research to understand what they are putting in their bodies.

This isn’t to say that I haven’t enjoyed my share of steak here. I have a 2/3 chance of getting grass fed, right? I have also enjoyed the tiny dent that ordering a steak in a restaurant makes in my wallet. You can get a good size steak for under $10, in many
cases around $5. However, I feel guilty. It’s the hidden costs that will ultimately bite us all in the behind. It’s the struggle that I always have around food after learning something about where my food comes from. Like learning not to eat bananas because where in the states do we grow bananas? If anyone knows, please tell me! It’s a step by step process…and I’m sure one day, when I have a larger hand in producing what I eat, it won’t be so hard.



If this topic interests you, here are some links where you can find out a little more about the topic in Argentina…they are in Spanish, though, so have your dictionary close by!

This is actually an organization in favor of feedlots in Argentina
http://www.feedlot.com.ar/index.php

Article that is somewhat objective, but seems to favor more traditional methods.
http://www.zoetecnocampo.com/Documentos/termcorr.htm