Argentina is a funny place. I often get confused as to where I am in the world because of the French architecture, Italian fashion sense, tourists scattered about but at the same time, speaking Spanish is a must to survive. I didn’t know it before I got here but Argentina is very European: mostly Spanish and Italian with a French influence and other eastern Europeans thrown into the mix as well. The indigenous population constitutes only 3% of the total population. This dynamic is best seen in Buenos Aires, a city that could be a perfect mix of New York City and Washington D.C. with a Latin feel if that is possible. Argentina is famous for beef, the tango, Patagonia, and beautiful women. I will say that the beef is some of the best I have ever eaten, people dancing the Tango fill the streets of some neighborhoods, Patagonia is breathtaking (I haven’t been yet but the pictures are great though) and the women, well they are the most beautiful women I have ever seen.
My plans changed drastically after I hurt my leg and could no longer ride a horse which is a prerequisite for working on any farm in the country. I have been bouncing around since then looking for a purpose with some success with my project. The cattle industry in a perfect microcosm of the problems in the country. Argentina is a country that has everything. Everything that is except good government. The country has been plagued with bad government for years and the corruption has run ramped. Argentina has enormous agricultural potential, wealthy in natural resources, diverse landscapes, thriving tourism industry and a large population to fuel the economy. The population, for the most part, has the same ethnic make up as the States as well. If a country has everything it could possibly need to succeed, then why does the vast majority of the country live in poverty? Like in Africa, the problem lies with bad government. That seems to be a common theme to my trip thus far. Argentina is just better at hiding their problems. The country is by no means poor. The money is just concentrated within a very small percentage of people, which is another reoccurring theme of my trip.
As I said earlier, Argentina is is famous for its beef. I have heard conflicting reports but the average Argentine consumes close to 150lbs. of beef a year. That is a lot of beef! Beef has become as much a part of their culture as the main staple of their diet. The government knows this fact so beef has become a powerful political issue. The government wants every Argentine to be able to afford cheap meat. If they didn’t, there would be riots in the streets. Seriously... Their solution: install export quotas on the beef industry turning it into a heavily regulated business. The domestic beef market has to be filled first before any beef can be exported and that is arbitrarily determined by the government as to when the market is full or not. To add to the confusion of the farmers, the international market likes larger cuts of beef than the domestic market meaning that the farmer has to cater to one market or the other not knowing what the quotas will be at the time of sale. To complicate things even more, the government takes a 15% fee off the selling price, not the profit, of the cattle. So lets say you do find the right market to sell your cattle either on the domestic or international market and make a reasonable deal, before you see any money at all the government takes their cut of 15%. This makes increasingly difficult for local farmers to turn a profit but they don’t complain because it could be much worse. Worse, how? The government takes between 28% and 35% on different crops such as soybean, sunflower, and wheat. The profit margins continue to shrink and the farmer gets even poorer.
The solution to this problem is the same solution that farmers in the US have, get bigger and bigger to survive. Lots are farms are becoming commercially operated or bought up and consolidated by businessmen with too much money from other professions. This is not unique to Argentina at all. It is actually a common trend in the USA and similar to what I witnessed in South Africa as well. Small farmers just can’t compete anymore as a primary source of income or against corporate farming. It is happening everywhere, not just in the States.
Beef's political importance runs much deep than just keeping the peace with cheap over the counter prices which is absurdly low: i.e. 2 pesos for a pound of asado (which is the equivalent of 66 cents US for their favorite cut of meat that is unique to this part of the world. The cut of meat is cut across the ribs. The actual steak with have four or five pieces of rib bone in the actual cut. It is very good.) and 80 centavos for a pound of hamburger meat (roughly 25 cents US). Again, beef is cheap, especially over the counter. If you don’t know your Argentine history, the country had a financial meltdown in 2001. People lost everything, banks ran out of money, land became worthless, the currency was devalued and the country plundered into massive foreign debt. Since then the country has rebounded and managed to pay off most of the debt but the interest rate for the debt is directly tied to their consumer index which beef consumption is a major part of since Argentines eat so much of it. By keeping beef prices low, the consumer index will remain low, thus keeping the interest rate low for their foreign debt. Even though this may sound a little strange, as it should, it is working for now so why should the government change it? For the future, that is a different story.
For the beef, it really is that good. It is not that there are proportionally more cattle in the country but the cattle they do have are all high quality. Driving down the road, you don’t see any bad cattle. They are all high quality black Angus scattered across the landscapes on any land that is unsuitable for soybean, wheat and sunflowers because the crop market is much better than the cattle market these days (even with a higher government tax). The government control of the beef market has had its effect though. Go out to a restaurant and order the best steak they have and you may shell out the equivalent of $10US for a really good cut of beef. A good bottle of wine may run you US $10US also. With that being said, Argentina is a man’s paradise; great beef, great wine, beautiful women, and big mountains to climb. Whats not to love?That being said I am ready to leave. I know I know, I am an idiot. Argentina is just too European for me right now and also very easy to travel within. I would recommend it to anyone to backpack through. I just miss the adventure of Africa, mostly the culture shock. I am off to India. I have one contact in Delhi, no idea what I plan to do or how I am going to do it, but three months in India should provide quite a shock. Adios!
