A Protein Cornucopia. Beef Eating and Pre-industrial Living Standards in Southern Spanish America (Rio de la Plata, 1760-1850)

DJENDEREDJIAN, JULIO; MARTIRÉN, JUAN LUIS; MORAES, MARIA INES

Philadelphia

Congreso; 136th. Annual Meeting, American Historical Association; 2023

American Historical Association

This ispart of a work in progress about the evolution of prices, wages and livingstandards in the region of the Río de la Plata during the complex transitionfrom Ancient Regime to liberalism. Thisperiod includes the late colonial economic expansion, the impact of theindependence wars, the boom of Atlantic trade, the emergence of a new monetarystandard and high inflation cycles caused by excessive monetary emission. In other words,major political, economic and social changes characterized these decades. In this proposalwe will focus on a specific aspect of this topic: the weight of meat in theliving standards of the Río de la Plata. The title pretends to metaphorize abasic characteristic of the region: abundance in the supply and consumption ofbeef in all social strata.