A Protein Cornucopia: Beef Eating and Preindustrial Living Standards in Southern Spanish America (Rio de la Plata), 1760–1850

The Rio de la Plata region, a wide area of fertile plains located in the southern domains of theSpanish Crown in America, wascharacterizedbyanabundanceofresourcesand scarce population. The expansion of the Atlantic markets triggered the development of a dynamic pastoral economy. Many European travelers who visited this region during the colonial period and the first half of the nineteenth century were surprised by the high levels of beef consumption in all social sectors, including the slave population. Recent literature on these regions presented empirical evidence that suggests that by 1800 living standards among this region were equal to or better than those in the most prominent cities in northern Europe. Besides, food shortages and epidemics, although they existed, were not so harsh as those of pre-industrial Europe.

This paper uses original evidence to point out that abundant and cheap cattle was the key factor in such levels of well-being. We argue that in the pre-industrial Rio de la Plata from 1760 to 1850 existed a virtuous relationship between a grassland ecosystem, an efficient livestock system, a popular diet based upon beef, that resulted on an affordability of food and high levels of living standards that mitigated the impact of epidemics. However, we hypothesize that economic and commercial changes started in the 1820s, in particular the growing exports of jerky beef, challenged this virtuous relationship, propitiating its end in the middle of the century.