Meat dearer in Argentina than New York

[perry]

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1389179-en-estados-unidos-la-carne-es-mas-barata-que-en-la-argentina

Interesting article in La Nacion that shows clearly that meat is dearer in Buenos Aires than New York USA .

This to me is a sad affair and one that affects the middle and lower classes significantly as meat is the staple of the Argentinian diet.

Also I have noted that the quality of meat has decllined over the last years and I am super careful where I buy my meat and where I eat out . Grass fed beef has a distinct sweet taste and is way better than grain fed hormone pumped meat that is now prevalent .

In 2005 when I arrived here the quality of the meat was outstanding in most places as it was in the main grass fed beef . Now in 2011 I say that less than 30 % of cows are living off the grass.

 

[PhilipDT]

Love the comment section on that article. Especially this:

El Peronismo LO HIZO EN 1951 y lo VUELVE A HACER EN EL 2011 .... Mismas "TECNICAS" mismas "politicas" mismos RESULTADOS

There is so much wrong with this country that can be attributed to the ridiculous protectionist economic policies in place here.

Kristina wants to put 3 million netbooks in the schools here? Well, I guess they'll be paid for with the taxes that make those same netbooks unattainably expensive. The irony is so positively delicious.

 

[TomAtAlki]

The prices advertised in the windows of the market are loss leaders. Those prices are used to get people into the store. If you are going to use the normal prices in AR you have to use the normal prices in NYC which are considerably higher.

 

[jb5]

This article is total BS. I'm in the States now. Yesterday we saw a lomo at a deep discount store. It was slightly under triple what we saw in Baires 2 weeks ago. Would have been considerably more at a good butcher. Chicken is the only meat more expensive there. And that's only in certain parts of AR. It's about the same price in Mendoza as in the US.

 

[starlucia]

This article is total BS. I'm in the States now. Yesterday we saw a lomo at a deep discount store. It was slightly under triple what we saw in Baires 2 weeks ago. Would have been considerably more at a good butcher. Chicken is the only meat more expensive there. And that's only in certain parts of AR. It's about the same price in Mendoza as in the US.

I don't buy nor eat meat, so I don't know what's considered expensive or how prices compare. But for what it's worth, today at Publix in Miami, FL:

Ground beef: $3.99/lb (regular price)
Porterhouse/T-Bone: $7.99/lb (on sale this week)
Whole chicken: $1.19/lb (regular price)
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: $3.99/lb (sale, save $1.00 per pound)
Top-round London broil: $3.99/lb (on sale, $1 off per lb.)
Bone-in ribeye steak (antibiotic-free): $9.99/lb. (on sale)

 

[Philsword]

It seems anybody tries to make a point between something here and in the states somebody always jumps up and says it isn't so. One cut of meat at one store doesn't sound like irrefutable proof that the article is B.S. and what does normal prices in NYC mean?

 

[Philsword]

I don't buy nor eat meat, so I don't know what's considered expensive or how prices compare. But for what it's worth, today at Publix in Miami, FL:

Ground beef: $3.99/lb (regular price)
Porterhouse/T-Bone: $7.99/lb (on sale this week)
Whole chicken: $1.19/lb (regular price)
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: $3.99/lb (sale, save $1.00 per pound)
Top-round London broil: $3.99/lb (on sale, $1 off per lb.)
Bone-in ribeye steak (antibiotic-free): $9.99/lb. (on sale)

Thanks for this, since most of the cuts are different about the only thing comparable with Argentina would be ground beef and chicken. The ground beef at Publix must have been the extra lean at that price. Regular gound beef in the U.S. is probably 2 to 3 dollars a pound today.

Here is a break-down of ground beef prices in the Q1 of 2011.

http://www.beefretail.org/GroundBeefCategoryBreakdown.aspx

The average for ground beef according to this is $2.65 a pound, that works out to $5.83 a kilo. Someone in another thread said at COTO the average for ground beef is about $30 pesos a kilo, converting this to dollars you end up with about $7.30 per kilo, or about 25% more.

 

[starlucia]

The ground beef at Publix must have been the extra lean at that price.

Well, it was actually called ground round. I didn't realize there was any difference -- just assumed that ground cow is ground cow -- but thanks to the Internets, I now know that the round is leaner than "ground beef."

 

[Philsword]

Well, it was actually called ground round, if that makes any difference.

Yes it does at its higher quality and therefor a bit more expensive.

 

[jb5]

There are literally hundreds of grades of ground beef in the US. You can buy really cheap, bad, high fat ground beef for 1.99 per pound and good, lean ground beef can easily cost 5.99 per pound (good butcher, 94% lean). Theres prime, choice, select and dog food. Within each category there are different percentages of fat you can buy.

Those of us who constantly travel between the States and AR can call BS when we see it. We spend waaaay less for good beef in AR than for good quality beef in the US. Top cuts like lomo and Porterhouse (forget the Argentine word), are less than half the price in AR.

And meat in the US is not trimmed the way it is in AR, you often pay for a lot of fat. And the service in AR is far better. Yesterday I asked a supermarket butcher to grind some pork fresh for me. He looked at me like I was crazy although he ended up doing it. At the markets in BA, the pork vendor is happy to grind the pork I buy from him along with the beef I buy from another vendor.

It's funny to me Clarin chose to write the story on meat when LOTS of things really are more expensive.