Why is Meat so Valuable in the Latino Culture?

Sharing the Best

In the hispanic culture as we have expressed previously it is key in every country and almost all nationalities to have meat in there food options.

One of the phrases that my parents and grandparents would hate when they where children still living at their parents house was, Leave the meat for the visitors.

Economical issues  and the high cost of meat compared to other priorities made meat scarce. As sign of respects it was expected for people to  leave the meat for the people visiting the house.

It was also a sense of  pride and not letting anyone know that they might be going thru difficult times.

What I find curious is how they actually tied meat to something of value?

Why is Meat so Valuable

I have asked the question to people who lived these situation and at the end of the day I can say that everyone did it because they where obligated not because they really wanted to give the meat to others. Many would have taken the piece of meat if their parents would have gave them the option.

This is a good example of the fixation that individuals have on meat in our culture. Have you heard similar stories?

On my side I can say that I if you visit my house you can have the meat; that is if you find any. I will give you the best vegetarian options by genuinely sharing the best (even-though many people will complain that there is no meat).

Intent

I see how many people don’t measure my intent to offer them the best veggie options because they can’t get away from the fact that they need meat. Most of the time when they try the options that we have offered them they quickly change their mind about vegetarian options. But the key part was the good intent I had in offering and sharing the best I can offer.

In previous posts created by other of our contributors  it is very clear on how our culture values meat it.

Why does this happen other than some historical situations like when there was a lack of meat and people saw it as a valuable item because it was difficult to get?

Why do you think our culture values meat so much? Get creative your answers will be featured on a post (if you give us permission).

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photo credit by Pink Sherbet Photography