Where is the Beef?

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Ok, so yesterday I told you that we crossed the border into Argentina a little over a week ago, what I did not tell you is that we have been trying to set a Guinness Record for most Argentine beef consumed in a week. Possibly an exaggeration…

I for one swore off chicken about a month ago, actually I stopped eating both chicken & rice! After 7 months of eating this dish almost everyday, and during certain periods 2x a day for weeks straight - my tolerance for this common foul ended…abruptly.

The rest of the gang kept chugging along, always looking for the next opportunity to sample the local arroz con pollo which often resulted in me sitting and watching them eat. Not a problem, the family needed to eat and I needed to stop eating chicken.

Well, well, well…how I love Argentina!

I am not positive, but I think that chickens are outlawed in this country. The last poultry pest I saw was cuffed and heading for the chicken pattie truck and back across the border to one of those “chicken eating countries” like Bolivia, Peru, or Ecuador! Good riddance if you ask me…

I knew that Argentina was Beef Country, just didn’t know how big.


Here are some facts about this great beef eating country:

* Argentina has the world’s highest consumption rate of beef - 149.6 pounds per person per year
* At any one time there are 55 million cattle walking around this place
* Beef revenue exceeds $5 Billion dollars a year and makes up more than 10% of the GDP
* It is the 3rd largest beef exporter in the world
* However, it only exports 7% of its beef - the rest is consumed domestically

A friend of mine lived in Argentina for a year sent me this story about Argentine beef:

Funny story. Once we hosted dinner for our neighbors and we made a chicken based gourmet meal.. My buddy Marcelo asks “why do you cook pollo when you have beef”? He was sincerely confused, I laughed out loud…

So, our first week in Argentina has put us into a beef induced stupor - but I for one am alright with that. Like anything else too much of a good thing will probably have me ranting in a couple months about how I hope to never see another cow and I’ll write a vicious attack of McDonalds or Burger King. But until then we will eat more than our share of good Argentine beef and relish in the fact that there is not a KFC on every corner.

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