(CN) — A culinary struggle is underway between the growing vegetarian and vegan community and the traditional meat-eating majority of Argentina, a country famed for its grass-fed beef that stretches back to colonial times.
Argentines eat the most meat in all of South America, around 109.38kg per person per year, and have the third biggest appetite in the world behind only Australians (121.6kg) and Americans (124.1kg).
Meat, and particularly beef, has shaped the destiny of Argentina since the Spanish conquistadors herded cattle on ships and brought them over to South America.
The boundless grassy plains of the Pampas, with its fertile soil and climate, fed the rapidly multiplying cattle as well as the agricultural export-driven growth of Argentina’s economy.
Roaming gaucho cowboys, long-time outcasts of Argentine history that were resurrected as symbols of national identity, would flame wooden fires and slow-roast cuts of beef for an asado — a type of barbeque that remains a sacred social event and source of national pride.
The advent of globalization brought expanding export markets for the country’s growing meat production, cultivating a quality reputation while propelling a minority of landowners into areas of extreme wealth and political importance.
“In Argentina, meat consumption, mainly beef, is strongly rooted in the national food culture, the traditional production of the country and one of its flagship products in foreign markets,” according to a regional board of trade report.
The intensity of beef consumption across Argentina is so high that despite the waning appetite during the last few years, the country remains the global leader.
“With a severe economic crisis due to the pandemic, and with a drop in income and job losses, beef consumption is the lowest in the history of the country,” the report added, “around 25% less than what was consumed at the beginning of the 2000s and 40% less than 50 years ago. Yet despite this decrease, Argentina continues to hold first position in terms of world beef consumption per capita. In 2021, Argentines ate 47.5kg of beef, followed by Uruguay (45kg) and the U.S. (38kg).”
While the broad trajectory of beef consumption has been steadily decreasing for decades, the last two economic crises (1998-2002 and 2018-) have trigged sharper falls.
According to data by the Institute for the Promotion of Beef, the yearly average plate of beef lightened by 7.9kg between 1999 and 2002 and 9kg between 2018 and 2021 as growing poverty, unemployment and inflation eat into people’s savings.
In January, yearly inflation hit 50.7% with some of the hardest hit products being wine (114.3%), bread (76.5%) and meat (70%).
Attempts to tame the price of beef have been unsuccessful. Last year the government placed a temporary ban on beef exports — hoping to boost domestic supply and stabilize local prices. Last month it extended an export ban on several cuts of beef until the end of 2023.
Alongside the slowdown in meat consumption is the acceleration of vegetarianism and veganism.
There are no official figures on the numbers. One survey by an association of nutritionists puts the number of vegetarians and vegans in Argentina at 12%. Another survey by the Institute for the Promotion of Beef counts 5% while recognizing that 29% of the population are now flexitarian — those that consciously eat less meat.
This would make Argentina the second-largest non-meat eating country in South America after Brazil, which is going through similar culinary shifts away from meat as 14% of Brazilians now claim to be vegetarian.
A strong indicator of the rise of non-meat eaters is the participation in Veganuary, the yearly international challenge that encourages people to go vegan for January.
Last month, 629,000 people took part in the challenge, according to the non-profit. Among the top ten countries that participated, five of them were in Latin America — Mexico had the highest levels of participation, followed by Argentina, then Colombia, Chile and Brazil.
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