Cry for me Argentina

Oh, this is AWFUL news:

Argentine grass-fed beef is already a thing of the past. What? How did this happen? Almost all Argentine beef is now raised in feedlots, grain-fed and crowded, just like in the U.S.

Cows did not evolve while eating grain. In fact, it sickens them. They evolved eating grass.

Why do we care (aside from concern for cow welfare)? Because grass-fed beef is lower in overall fat, lower in heart-killing saturated fats, and higher in healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. Corn-fed beef is killing us by clogging our arteries. And feedlots, besides being nuisances, create monumental amounts of pollution, besides creating a food that is notably unhealthy to eat.

Argentine ranchers, enticed by the high prices of world grain markets, and driven by short-sighted government policies which discourage beef production by keeping beef prices artificially low, have switched to grain production (raising corn, wheat, soybeans).

Remember that line from Oklahoma!: "Oh, the farmer and the cowboy can be friends . . ." Well, the cowboy has BECOME the farmer.

Millions of persons will die earlier because of this, and a cherished ranching tradition of the Gauchos, a tradition that practically defined a culture, is dead.

My spouse even said that now we should drop our plans to someday visit Argentina, and enjoy the famed grass-fed beef with an Argentine Malbec.

But all is not lost: Little Uruguay sees an opportunity here, and is continuing its production of grass-fed cattle while opening up new high-end markets for its beef. But the wines in Uruguay (Tannat, and others) are nothing like Argentina's. So the ideal vacation down there would involve visiting Argentina first, enjoying the sights and buying some Malbecs, but eating only poultry, fish, and vegetarian, then skipping over to Uruguay for the beef, which you would enjoy with the Argie wines you brought with you. You might engender some impolite looks (from bringing in a rival's wines), but hey! Life is complicated for everybody now.

We caused this, you know, with our tremendously stupid corn-to-ethanol program. It has driven up corn prices to the point that the poor are getting poorer and even-more-poorly fed, and it has the most-horrific economics (in terms of energy in - energy out) of perhaps any government program in history. It is a truly idiotic money-loser. But the farm lobby is all-powerful, so there you go. We caused this, by allowing it to happen, by allowing Big Food to sell us unpalatable products.

When will governments quit screwing things up?

You can read the article here.