The latest report from the Rosario Stock Exchange indicates that The annual projection of per capita beef consumption fell to its lowest level in the last 110 years: The average barely exceeds 44kg, while the historical average is 72.9kg.
Unlike imports, which achieved the second best annual record since 1990, domestic consumption continues to decline in a worrying way. Beef production is also down, 8% below the first half of 2023.
The report highlights that total consumption of beef, poultry and pork in Argentina could reach around 105.7 kg per inhabitant in 2024. If this is the case, it would represent a 9% drop compared to the previous year, and would be the lowest consumption since 2011. Each inhabitant would consume seven kilos less of meat in 2024 compared to the average of the last ten years, which is 112.8 kg.
Currently Argentines consume 42% beef, 42% poultry and 16% pork in their diet.. Cow consumption has been decreasing over time, displaced by other cheaper options.
The share of beef is expected to have fallen by 3.5 percentage points compared to 2023, reaching a record low. At the same time, poultry meat consumption increased by 2.4 percentage points year-on-year.
For the first time on record, the average Argentine inhabitant will consume the same amount of beef as poultry in 2024 (around 44.5 kg).Pork consumption, for its part, would increase by 1.1 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Access to adequate, healthy and safe food is becoming more difficult every day in Argentina. Deputy Lucia De Ponti, together with the Centro de Estudios Scalabrini Ortiz (CESO), presented a study that shows a 291% increase in the cost of living year-on-year: In the first week of June alone, food prices increased by 1.8%.
Workers receive irregular increases in their salaries that do not reach the levels of inflation and the loss of purchasing power is noticeable in everyday life. According to studies by the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), the deterioration in salaries compared to the same period in 2023 rose to 20%: an employee who receives a basic salary earns $61,433 less. If we refer to retirement benefits, the decline is even greater.
For its part, the basic family basket In June, the price of rice rose to $1,233,863. The foods whose prices rose the most in the last year were rice, with a 1,447% increase and dry noodles, with a 1,125% increase, while meat rose by 595% and dairy products by 772%.
Without mentioning luxuries, the cost of living in poor neighborhoods is on the rise, and restrictions have become commonplace. The imbalance in the economic system has consequences for health, restricting access to basic foodstuffs for a decent and efficient nutrition for people.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in Javier Milei’s Argentina, there are already more than 10 million children and adolescents who eat less meat and dairy products than last year due to lack of money. They also reduced their intake of fruits and vegetables by 58%, while the consumption of noodles and flour increased by 24%.
The same UNICEF study indicates that more than one million children receive one less breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner every day because their families cannot afford it. “Faced with insufficient income, families stop buying food or medicine, which significantly worsens the quality of life of its members,” explained Luisina Bruma, representative of the agency.
While poverty and indigence rates continue to rise during the administration of La Libertad Avanza, people are becoming poorer every day and many rights are being violated. One of them is access to nutritionally complete food, sufficient in quantity and quality. In Argentina, recognized as one of the countries with the highest per capita meat consumption in the world, today its consumption barely exceeds half of the historical average.
Source: Ambito
