Adventures in vegetarianism

When I took the vow of poverty and decided to become a journalist years ago, I had no idea it would force me into a vegetarian diet by financial necessity, particularly while working in a country with stretches of land where animals outnumber people by about a thousand to one, a country so famous for its beef. Fortunately, Buenos Aires has great farmers' markets where fresh produce is dirt cheap. Sweet strawberries come from Tucuman, perfect avocados from the border with Brazil, a subtropical climate where avocado trees reportedly bloom everywhere; the citrus fruits are made for juicing. Still, according to conversations I've had with a lot of people here, I'm not alone in preferring a tender, warm red slice of bovine. It's so cheap here! But because of fairly rampant price hikes this year and last, for those of us with modest incomes, it's no longer cheap enough.