Argentina: Less Cholesterol?

It was a little like asking a two-pack-a-day man to give up smoking. In Argentina, beef belt of the hemisphere, the country’s 30 biggest packinghouses urged President Arturo Illia to institute meat rationing. Otherwise, they warned, exports will drop, many meat packers will close, and 60,000 workers will be out of work. Ironically, the trouble is that 1963 was a banner year for Argentine beef exports; slaughterhouses worked overtime, and farmers thinned out their herds. Now they are trying to build up their cattle stocks again, and in a land where 21 million people eat an average five pounds of meat per week, there are now not enough steaks left over for shipping abroad. The packers’ recommendation: cut domestic consumption 30% by limiting meaty meals to five days a week.